SPR Files and Host Club Shenanigans
by beigedecore
Summary: Five months ago, Naru left Japan and went back to England, leaving behind him a heartbroken Mai and an angry Yakunan. Now, he's back, but how will the Host Club influence Yakunan and Mai's decision to go back to SPR? Yakunan knows the answer: She would join to escape the club. Unfortunately for her though, some higher spirit is definitely playing around.
1. Introduction - Part 1

**Beigedecore: Hey there~! This is my first fanfiction, and I hope you don't judge too harshly for the first few chapters~ Thanks~!**

 **Naru: Asking them to go easy on you is unintelligent. You can't make your story better if there isn't any criticism of it.**

 **Beigedecore: Shut your mouth. I didn't ask you, did I? *slightly annoyed look***

 **Naru: Someone should contain your stupidity.**

 **Beigedecore: Shut it, or I'll pair Mai-chan and Yasuhara-chan up. :|**

 **Naru: The majority of the readers would not be satisfied with that.**

 **Beigedecore: I'll put you in a pink tutu! Got anything to say now?**

 **Naru: *small tick on back of head* …**

 **Yakunan: What Beigedecore-san neglected to say is that Ouran High School and Ghost do not belong to her.**

 **Hani: Hello~! *holding Usa-chan***

 **Beigedecore: I'll talk with you next time, Hani-chan and Yakunan-chan, 'cause the story needs attention, 'kay~? Anyway, onwards we sail~!**

* * *

Meet the... Does this say 'Host Club'?

The tick that was on Yakunan's forehead pulsed a little harder when she closed the door sharply to the last library in the school. It had only been slightly quieter than the other three, which were crowded with students as if they were holding huge parties. They had all been chatting to each other, and only a couple were actually doing work. 'Or trying to do work…' she thought, remembering the boy who had been glaring at a particularly loud group of girls in front of him.

She likened it to being at the SPR office when the other members insisted on throwing an office party, but one thousand times worse. It was a mystery to her at that point how she managed to keep her calm, but she supposed it was from having to handle her co-workers for two years.

Naru had left Japan for England, of course, and he wasn't likely to come back. Meanwhile, Yakunan's university insisted on her going to the school (which she was currently wandering through) for a year, and to hand in an analysis of seven students. To her chagrine, she had been told to analyse their disposition and how long it would take them for their spirits to become corrupt if they were spontaneously left to linger for no reason. She was averse to the idea of socialising.

It would be an understatement to say that Yakunan had not been pleased.

 _\- Flashback –_

 _"Himakocha-san!" the harried lecturer shouted to the retreating back of his student. The student in question, who looked so androgeneous that the lecturer sometimes got a headache, turned around suddenly to see him waving him/her down. He/she exhaled in annoyance._

 _"What is it?"_

 _"The Dean wants you to go to his office…" the lecturer trailed off awkwardly, seeing his/her annoyed expression._

 _The student, Yakunan, spoke then. "You could have told me in class."_

 _He nodded a few times, feeling dwarfed by the student's presence. 'As does pretty much everyone else… ehehe…!' he thought, resisting the urge to wince and failing to a degree. "Uh, okay…!"_

 _The only people who did not feel dwarfed in that student's presence were the ones who knew her as more than an acquaintance._

 _Looking like he/she might be satisfied with those words, he/she (he/she was a she) turned her back and walked away to the Dean's office, wondering why he would want her. It was unusual, since the Dean didn't call anyone for no reason… but then again, she was nineteen, and had completed four degrees and was about to complete her fifth (in only three years). She also contributed to knowledge about astral projection, spirit mediums and such like._

 _Yakunan knocked on the Dean's door and heard a 'come in!'. The door opened when she pushed it, and she walked inside, glancing around at the office, which she had been in only a few times before. "Thank you for coming."_

 _Her eyes snapped to Dean, and she nodded curtly. "What do you want me for?"_

 _"That wasn't very polite, was it?" he chuckled. She glared frostily, and he became serious again. "Well…"_

 _Ten minutes later of explaining that she would be going to attend a school for very wealthy people, showing her pamphlets and handing her forms to fill out, the young woman's mood was black. Yakunan left the office wordlessly and walked down the corridors, not responding to any greetings and wishing that the Dean wasn't so annoying._

 _The Dean watched his student leave, chuckling and shaking his head. He hoped that when she handed in her report directly to him, she would do it in a much more agreeable manner._

 _\- End of flashback -_

Yakunan approached another door, white with traces of gold around the idents in it, the golden handle shining in the afternoon sun which filtered into the corridor. She looked up at the sign above it to see the words 'Music Room 3', and sighed, knowing the room would be a better place than nothing to start her homework in.

She turned the knob and opened the door calmly, standing there wordlessly and masking her confused irritation when light blinded her and what appeared to be rose petals blew towards her face. She brushed them off her black button up and pants, which were also black, while studying the people who had just spread their arms and greeted her weirdly.

After three seconds of flower petals and lights, the blonde stepped forward and launched into a flowery dialogue as the scenery wasn't completely cancelled out by the white light. "Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here at the elite private school, Ouran Academy."

Yakunan stood there, an eyebrow raised, and wondered why she had to step into the room containing a loud idiot. 'He sounds like a French person. His speech is as flowery as the language. Of course, I cannot be sure, but…' He went on.

"The Ouran Host Club is where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran Academy's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful." The blonde finished with a flourish of his arms, smiling in what she thought that he may have thought was an attractive way.

A few words from his extensive speech seemed to blare into her face. "A Host Club?" her arched eyebrow arched in an even more slightly elegant and critical way.

"Wait… it's only a boy… again…" a pair of auburn-haired twins sighed in disappointment. A small tick mark appeared on the back of Yakunan's head. She wondered why everyone insisted on seeing her as a boy. She even had long hair! But in her university, they might have started thinking she was actually a he because some girls thought she vaguely resembled the character 'Azuma Yunoki' from an anime she had never heard called 'La Corda D'oro'. She wasn't exactly interested in anime anyway, though.

"Mori-senpai, Hani-senpai, I believe this young man is in your class, isn't he?" a young man with glasses perched on his nose said.

"He is, Kyo-chan!" a child-like boy nodded. There were three things that made this boy unusual, though. The fact that he looked like a child, yet he was attending Ouran Academy, that he was referred to with senpai and that he was in the same year as Yakunan, who was doing third-year. The child-like teenager hugged his bunny doll closer. "He doesn't talk to anyone except sensei though~!"

"Oh, that wasn't very subtle." The bespectacled teenager sighed dubiously. "Welcome to the Ouran Host Club, Mr Specialty Student." The glasses-wearing boy turned to the androgeneous person standing at the door.

She only nodded curtly, not caring about them, and was about to turn and leave when one of the pranced over to her. "Oh? You must be Yakunan Himakocha. You're the specialty student we've heard about!"

This earned him a weird look, since Yakunan found it unsettling that he knew her name. 'Come to think of it, he does look and act rather like the Chairman…' The only person to know why she was there had just explained her arrival by saying she was a transfer specialty student. Yakunan would have preferred it if he had said nothing.

The young man with glasses spoke up again. "You're quite infamous. It's not everyday that a commoner gains entrance into our academy under conditions that are unspecified by the chairman."

Her expression didn't change, but the tick on the back of her head did pulse especially hard when he said 'commoner'. 'If only he knew… and calling anyone a 'commoner' is insulting.'

"Come on, guys. Don't annoy him… it's not that rare to be able to get in." One spoke up. The voice seemed rather androgeneous, and the appearance that went with it even more so, but the person was faintly female.

Almost immediately, Yakunan's gaze was pinned on her, studying every inch of her and quickly coming to a conclusion. "Why are you in this club?"

"What do you mean?"

Another tick appeared on the back of her head. "Do you lack brain cells? It is quite apparent to me that you are female."

In response to this, all the members of the club responded except the person who had been questioned. The taller blonde was running around as though he were a chicken with its head cut off, the smaller blonde was wide eyed, teary and hysterical, the man with glasses was surprised, eyeing her with suspicion and the tall, black-haired man was standing there passively except for his slightly defensive stance and narrowed eyes.

Suddenly, the twins, who had been screaming to each other and waving their arms around wildly in alarm, grabbed ropes from nowhere and tied her unceremoniously to a chair, then proceeded to shine a bright light into her eyes. Yakunan blocked out the light by closing her eyelids, and tried to reach up to massage her temples when she recalled that she was tied to a chair. "What are you doing?"

The twins stepped forward threateningly, not that they would be seen by her as 'threatening'. "How did you know Haruhi is a girl!?"

Yakunan deadpanned. "It is obvious. Only a person who majorly lacks brain cells would take so long to realise that they would have to look at her when she is getting undressed."

She blinked in surprise when the light turned off and spotted the taller blonde sulking in a corner that had not been there before. Yakunan let herself wonder if they carried around corners or something, considering how extravagant and dramatic they seemed to be, but then pushed the thought out of her head, labelling it as 'stupid'. She put it away to analyse later.

Another thought struck her. Had he interfered with the light by sulking? Was it some form of PK? Or should she just put it in the 'Ouran High School Logic' folder and not question it because it was pointless? She would have to study him some time.

There was a soft clicking sound, and Yakunan turned her head to see the young man with glasses pushing them up and holding a black notebook, which resembled the Deathnote and her former boss' notebook a little too closely. She shrugged this off, knowing it was most likely unintentional. "Well, since you know Haruhi's secret, you'll have to join Ouran Host Club."

She sweatdropped, wondering how it remained a secret, when any normal person (who obviously didn't attend this school or any other school for very rich kids) would have figured it out in, at the longest, five minutes. "No thank you. I am not interested in telling your friend Haruhi's secret."

"You don't have a choice." One of the twins came up behind her, a gleam in his eye.

"How will we know you would keep the secret anyway?" the other one popped up on her left, an identical, but slightly softer gleam in his eyes.

Yakunan remained silent, not caring that much about what they thought and instead thinking of the blonde's strange effect on the lamp. It turned on suddenly, and she came to realisation that the blonde had stopped sulking pathetically.

"Well, if we were to make him a host…" he paused with a determined look in his eyes and clicked his fingers. It seemed to echo around the room, like an executioner's axe dropping. "We'll have to train him! So, untie him!"

As he said this, Yakunan noted that he did not consider her opinion, so she decided to use the literal part of the situation to her advantage. She observed every member leap into action except the blonde and the accused crossdresser. The young man wearing glasses opened his notebook and wrote a few things down, her classmates Morinozuka and Haninozuka approached, and the twins walked off carelessly, snickered and grinning. The crossdresser just stood there and deadpanned at the scene, her eyebrow and lips twitching in irritation. Yakunan would have sympathised, if she could have bothered.

Yakunan looked at her fellow crossdresser with little expression beyond acknowledgement of her existence. "Turn off the lamp."

The person in question, Haruhi, if Yakunan knew right from the shouting of the twins at the start of the interrogation, sighed and went into action. She clicked off the lamp, removed it from the power socket it was connected to and started to put it away.

Meanwhile, Morinozuka and Haninozuka were untying her from the chair, and she stood up. Straightening her black button down shirt with an indifferent expression, Yakunan restrained herself from going up to the annoying blonde and punching him or attacking him with her PK. She proceeded to turn around and get her bag from the floor near the door and was about to leave when the blonde stopped her.

She straightened her button down black shirt with an indifferent expression, restraining herself from going up to the taller blonde and punching him or attacking him with her PK. Yakunan proceeded to turn around and get her bag from the floor near the door and was about to leave when the blonde stopped her.

"We told you that we were going to train you!" he exclaimed. Yakunan just stared at him with a mostly blank but slightly annoyed expression.

"I will not join your club." She stated bluntly.

He seemed suddenly to disappeared, and she turned to a corner - which she was convinced had been a straight wall - to see him sulking. Again. Yakunan just shrugged off the faint feeling of being being disturbed and turned around, ready to exit the room. She had a headache from the entire day and was eager to go home.

Suddenly, a voice spoke up behind her. "You shouldn't be mean to Tama-chan, you know, Ya-chan~" Haninozuka was looking up at her with wise, but cute eyes. He actually looked closer to his age.

She blinked once, surprised and somewhat shocked by his appearance (now that she observed properly without dismissing him). "I merely stated that I wasn't going to join his club. My time cannot be consumed by activities like this, since I am often busy with other things."

'Like attending lectures in the afternoons,' she thought, beginning to turn away from the pain-inducing appearance of the third year.

"So you don't have time for us~?" he asked her tearfully. She tried to figure out why he would be upset, but gave up.

With a frown, she shook her head. "I do not have time for it. I would miss important things."

"Couldn't a friend tell you later?" Haruhi suggested.

Her shoulders slackened very slightly. She didn't have that many friends. People tended to dislike her and not many could put up with her. It surprised her that they were insisting on her joining. "Not really."

Suddenly, her mobile phone rang, and she took it from her bag. After glancing at the phone number, a tick appeared on her head. "Dare? [What?]" she answered coldly.

"Oh~ that wasn't very polite." The Dean's voice greeted her ears. The tick on the back of her head pulsed a little harder.

"Speak." She ordered, her patience running thin very quickly.

"You don't have to attend any more lectures!~ I just ordered your lecturer to email you all the content from the lectures so that you don't have to miss club time at school if you do happen to join one!" he explained, much to her annoyance.

Yakunan frowned more, then, when she considered that the Dean would just start ranting if she was rude to him (she remembered all his other lectures on manners, but studiously ignored them and any advice imparted during them), she just hung up wordlessly.

* * *

The Dean of Yakunan's University, Makoto Hinata, blinked at his phone a couple of times, which was beeping with the dial tone, then shrugged. "I should have expected that... I wonder if she joined that club that Yuzuru-kun said his son made~?"

Shaking her head dubiously, Makoto's secretary, his wife, Kimiko Hinata (nee Kamishima), found the reason for the young student, Yakunan's, lectures to be sent to her via email obvious. Her husband was such a meddler, sometimes. Then again, if he hadn't been, then why would she have married him?

* * *

For a few seconds, Yakunan thought about the task given to her personally by the Dean. Well, there were seven people in the club… so she could join.

"Fine, I'll join your club." She put her phone in her pocket and put her bag down in a corner. As Tamaki cheered up, her mood became more irritable. Haruhi seemed to sense this and tried to herd her away from the stridently flamboyant blonde and to a quiet lounge area with a couple of long, cushioned sofas and a table set between them.

After a few minutes of quiet talking (with Haruhi apologising once while explaining a few things and Yakunan answering with short, clipped one or two syllable answers), Tamaki came over. He seemed to be about to tell her something, but she interrupted him. "What are your names?"

He blinked, then smiled energetically, gesturing to Haruhi. "Ah, well, this is Haruhi Fujioka, our natural type," he pointed emphatically towards the black haired young man in glasses, who paused to look up as if he knew Tamaki was about to speak of him. "Kyoya Ootori, the cool type!"

Yakunan nodded curtly and let him continue. "The Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, also the Mischievous type." He turned and directed her attention over to her classmates. "Takashi Morinozuka, or Mori-senpai, the wild type, and Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or Hani-senpai, the boy lolita."

He turned away and back to me. "And finally, mwa! The princely type! Blessed with beauty on both the inside and the out!"

She raised an eyebrow slightly. "Yakunan Himakocha." And with that, she got a book from her bag and went over to sit on the windowsill, her hair waving in the breeze. Tamaki turned white at his speech being ignored, and fell over when Hani poked him.

The door knob turned suddenly, and the hosts assembled to welcome them, Tamaki miraculously recovering. Yakunan just ignored them and read on. As the girls went to find a host, the wind blew and some sakura petals floated through the window, causing Yakunan's hair to blow a little.

A reasonably sized group of girls gasped, blushing slightly red and whispered something between each other in awe. Yakunan looked up from her book to see what they were talking about, only for them to squeal quietly.

With a soft thump, she closed her book and approached them, deciding that it would be best to go into her 'charming' mode. "Ah, what are you here for?" she asked, changing her voice from harsh and snappy to smooth.

They squealed and blushed, talking with low tones amongst each other. "Um, are you a-"

"Hm?" Yakunan looked towards the girl who was speaking.

She went on shyly with her question. "Are you a part of the Host Club?"

"Yes, I am." Yakunan smiled, not really meaning it and making sure it wasn't too wide. She hid her annoyance at the fact that it should be obvious she was in the club, since she certainly would not be hanging around the Host Club of her own accord.

A few more girls gathered around, requesting her to be their host. The other hosts watched from nearby, the twins leaning on Haruhi after practically dragging her there and Tamaki peeking over the edge of the couch in curiosity. Hani and Mori watched from next to the couch, and Kyoya stood near the crowd of girls, regulating them and getting them to go a few at a time.

After a few minutes, Kyoya had her talking to three girls at a time for ten minutes each. The twins remarked that Yakunan seemed to be a natural, having already wooed the group of girls with one smile.

They were seated at tables a few minutes later, tea and cakes at their disposal. One girl pointed at a vanilla slice. "Do you… eat cake?"

Yakunan nodded gracefully. "Yes, of course I do."

The blushed a little, and another girl spoke up. "Why do you wear your hair long?"

"It is comfortable that way." Her lips curled into a small smile, and the girls fangirled. Yakunan watched in amusement for a few seconds, and, wanting very much to calm them down, offered them a few cakes from the trolley Haruhi came around with.

The girls' blushes disappeared as Yakunan put the cakes on the table, as well as a few glasses of water. She herself took a sip from a glass and put it down on the table with a slightly loud clunk.

Suddenly, she felt as if lightning struck or a current of electricity zapped loudly, and she and her customers glanced around to see what it was. Yakunan suddenly zeroed in on Tamaki, who was writing on a piece of paper with was attached to a light blue clipboard madly, a slightly creepy look of excitement in his eyes. She deadpanned inwardly at his subtlety. 'As subtle as a sledge hammer…'

"So, Himakocha-senpai…" one girl began, looking back at her.

"Do you think it will be okay if…" the girl on her right became overwhelmed and blushed.

"… We request you again?" the last girl finished.

Yakunan nodded, somehow finding it in her to - she grimaced inwardly - be polite to people who she didn't know and quite frankly thought were airheaded. "I don't mind. I am here for your entertainment."

When Yakunan was refreshing herself after hosting her first guests, the other hosts chatted nearby, sharing looks and glancing at her. She gave them a flat, annoyed glance. "What is it?"

The twins answered her. "You're a natural- "

"Like Haruhi- "

"But we can't have more than one." They finished in unison.

"Exactly! That's the problem!" Tamaki stated the obvious with clueless vigour and pointed dramatically at Yakunan. "We need to find your type!"

* * *

 **Hani: Now can you talk~?**

 **Beigedecore: Yeah, sure, what is it, Hani-chan~?**

 **Hani: Read and Review, please~! *goes off to eat cake***

 **Beigedecore: *deadpans* I don't think that was talking to me…**

 **Naru: Favourite and follow her story too. If she loses motivation to write, she will be a failure.**

 **Beigedecore: As much as I wish that wasn't true, it is…**


	2. Introduction - Part 2

**Beigedecore: Hello again! This is the second chapter of this fanfiction, so you can judge me harshly now!~**

 **Naru: You sound like an idiot.**

 **Beigedecore: What did you just say!?**

 **Naru: You must have lost brain cells since I last saw you. I won't repeat myself.**

 **Beigedecore: *tick on forehead* Grrrr…**

 **Mai: Hey, Beigedecore-chan!**

 **Beigedecore: *annoyed look disappears* Oh, hello Mai~! How is Yakunan? Did she insult just before you popped in~?**

 **Mai: *tick on forehead* Yeah…**

 **Yakunan: *deathly aura* I am in this fanfiction too, do you know?**

 **Beigedecore and Mai: *become pale***

 **Cassidy: Well, at least your fanfiction isn't being deleted… *terrifying shadows swarming behind her***

 **Mai: Eh? Who are you?**

 **Beigedecore: I'll explain later, but we've got to get on with this fanfiction! *whispers* And I want to escape these two formidably scary auras!**

* * *

Teabags

Yakunan stared at him. "Do I need a type?"

"Yes, you certainly do!"

There was some excited chattering, and Yakunan glanced back to see some girls occupying the lounge she was supposed to be at. She didn't bother excusing herself and went over to them, sitting down on the windowsill next to them, seeing as she wanted to have an effect on them (just to get Tamaki to stop pestering her and be satisfied).

After a few seconds, they looked around in confusion, then saw Yakunan on the windowsill with her hair fluttering softly in the breeze. It may have been their imagination, but it seemed possible that there were sparkles around her.

Yakunan was just trying to impress Tamaki so he would get off her tail.

"Why don't you join us, Himakocha-senpai?" one of them invited, her voice soft and cheerful, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Yakunan got off the window and sat next to them. "Of course. The breeze is very relaxing, don't you think?"

'It certainly soothes my nerves and lowers my want to throttle a certain someone.' She glared briefly at Tamaki, causing him to sulk in a corner.

The three girls nodded vigorously, blushing slightly and not seeming to notice the sideways glare she had thrown at the President. "Oh, yes!" "Very relaxing!" "Especially since it is spring!"

'In this club, it feels more as though the girls are catering to us than the other way around. It is somewhat ridiculous.' Again, she gave a small smile and watched as they fangirled.

"Oh, H-himakocha-senpai," one girl asked shyly. "What product do y-you use in y-your hair? I-it is very nice."

"Just Hima-senpai," Yakunan corrected her. "And I use a product that I buy in Italy whenever I go over to visit."

They swooned. "Italy? So romantic!"

She shrugged. "I only stay for a week once a year, if that."

"Hima-senpai," one girl asked quietly. "Can you to tell us about the mansion in Italy you own?"

Yakunan shook her head. "I own a normal suburban home there. There isn't any need for a mansion."

"Really?" "No mansion?" "You don't need it?"

Again, she shook her head a negative. "No. To live, you don't need to much space."

"Is that true?"

She nodded. "Do you want to know how to live humbly?"

The girls looked at her curiously. Yakunan was dying inside - from laughter. "What does that mean?" "It sounds hard."

"Only use what you need to and do things yourself." She stated with a wise tone, smirking behind a teacup.

A type of humming sound came from the girls, and they tilted their heads, as if trying to take it in. "Like commoners?"

Yakunan's inward laughter intensified, a small chuckle escaped her. All three of the girls swooned, blushing red. "If you put it that way, then yes."

They fangirled a little, and Yakunan thought she saw hearts in their eyes and dancing around their heads. She blinked to attempt to clear her vision, wondering why she had so much that could only be defined as 'Ouran Logic'. Or maybe rich people were just like that.

When Yakunan realised they were all blushing and swooning with no sign of stopping in the next ten seconds, she made a polite gentlemanly move. It was mainly to quiet them down and satisfy Tamaki, whose gaze was pinned on her over the back of his sofa. "Would you like some tea, giovani signore [young ladies]?" she threw in some Italian to bump up her hosting. If she really wanted to flirt with them, she could rev up her performance at any time.

They began swooning, blushing covering both their faces and necks. Yakunan repressed an annoyed tick when she heard things like 'how romantic!' and 'how lucky!' "Le signore [ladies]?" she said in a questioning tone.

They saw her gesturing to the tea and all blushed harder. "S-sorry… yes please…"

"It's fine." Yakunan poured some tea, an air of sophistication around her. When she finished, she looked up. "Here."

The tea was received with different reactions when the girls saw some teabags lying on a saucer. "What are those?" they asked.

Yakunan looked at them and then back up. "Teabags." She sighed inwardly. Mai had forced her to carry them around because of her tea addiction. Yakunan begrudgingly admitted that it was rather convenient, but always grumbled and complained whenever Mai mentioned it - well, as much as someone as private as her would grumble and complain anyway.

"Tea bags?" "I think I've heard of them before…" "Don't commoners use them?" "So they don't have time to use proper tealeaves?"

A tick appeared on the back of Yakunan's head, but she willed it to go away. Thinking quickly of what could put a stop to their talk of 'commoners', she came across the perfect thing. She chuckled again, knowing that the girls would start swooning and blushing, and cease referring to middle-class citizens as commoners.

As she predicted, this drew their gazes, and their faces heated up. They started squealing and fangirling again, much to - Yakunan hesitated to think - the 'relief' of the two 'commoners' in the room.

"Damn these filthy rich jerks…" Haruhi was muttering under her breath after being forced to stay and watch the newest host.

Back at the host table, the fangirling was continuing, and Yakunan was getting tired.

"Bishounen!" a girl blushed, saying it softly. The other two quickly agreed with her, their faces getting somewhat redder than before.

"Bishounen?" the long-haired, cross-dressing host questioned, her attention grabbed. The three of them silenced, their blushes still prominent, looking a little embarrassed. Yakunan repeated the question, feeling slightly annoyed that they didn't answer the first time.

One of them, who Yakunan vaguely remembered was called Rei, answered. "Well… y-you are… beautiful…" here there was a lot of blushing, and not just from her. "And y-you are a man, s-so… we th-thought…"

Seeing that there wasn't much more of an answer, Yakunan cut her off by smiling. "I do not mind, then."

Their heads snapped towards her with their mouths dropped open, and they appeared much like Mai when she was apologised to by Naru. Then… the fangirling recommenced. Yakunan didn't mind for a few seconds, thinking about that words 'beautiful' and 'man'. She supposed, then, that bishounen meant 'beautiful man'.

At the conclusion of the ten minute session, the brunette tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, turning back to the kitchen with cups, saucers and teapots skillfully perched on her arms and hands. After putting them down, Yakunan went back out to her area, only to find the Host Club - bar Haruhi - and most of the girls fussing over the box of teabags she had left on the table. She deadpanned, thinking that rich people were either very sheltered or very stupid. Most likely a mix of both.

With a few smooth movements, she walked over and took the teabags from their hands, putting them back in the box. Tamaki picked the box up, not realising Yakunan's intention, and not noticing how her smile became slightly threatening. "What is this?" he asked, looking at it in pure (and stupid, Yakunan mentally added) curiosity.

"Read the packet." Yakunan answered, forcing down the annoyance from her voice.

He did so, and looked back at her in confusion. "I've never seen this brand before. Is this the kind that's already made?"

She gave him an indecipherable look that could have meant anything from 'what do you think it is?' to 'you are a complete idiot'. Haruhi saw this and guessed that it might have been both. "You were looking at them before. I would think you would know."

Tamaki wilted slightly, but his expression was thoughtful.

"It's prepackaged?" a girl asked out loud to her friend.

A look of realisation crossed his face. "Wow, I've heard of this before. It's commoners' tea. You just soak the teabags in hot water and it becomes tea."

"I didn't know there was such a thing." "So, it's true then, commoners don't even have enough free time to make their tea the proper way."

"Commoners are pretty smart." Kyoya commented, still holding his black notebook.

"Sixty teabags for two hundred yen?" One of the twins, Kaoru, commented. Yakunan thought he was Kaoru for two reasons, one being that his voice was higher than Hikaru's and he tended to be the less mischievous and more mature of the twins.

"Wouldn't that be about sixty grams?" the other of the pair, Hikaru, questioned.

"That's a lot less than we normally pay." They stated in unison.

Ticks were present on the forehead of Haruhi and on the back of Yakunan's head as they listened to what sounded like a ludicrous discussion by high school students. 'Couldn't the gakubu-chou [Dean] have sent me to a normal school?' Yakunan sighed inwardly, thinking of a thousand ways to kill the Dean, and none of them were under 'M rate'.

With a sigh, Yakunan picked up the teabags. "I will make tea the proper way, then," she paused. "Though I will not be able to attend you ladies as quickly if I do so."

"No, we'll drink it if we have to! I'm sure it will taste great!" one of Yakunan's customers broke in with some amount of urgency. The host in concern wondered why she had to take all the stupidity thrown her way by the hosts.

"That's right! We'll keep it! I'm going to give it a try!" Tamaki pointed his finger in the air dramatically. The girls and most of the Host Club members applauded him when he said so, while Haruhi and Yakunan had at least one tick on their head.

A second later, Tamaki pointed emphatically at Haruhi and I. "Alright, Haruhi-kun, Yakunan-senpai! Get over here and make some of this commoners' tea with teabags!"

"I hate all these damn rich people." Haruhi grumbled next to Yakunan. "They did the same with the instant coffee too…"

The older of the two patted the other's head (while ignoring the sudden fangirling that was a result of the action). Haruhi looked up in curiosity. "Huh?"

Yakunan's expression became slightly annoyed. "I don't want to explain, but seeing as you lack the brain cells," she tugged the first year over to a table to make the tea, disregarding the ticks that had appeared on her head. "It means I agree with you."

As Haruhi picked up a teapot that had appeared out of nowhere, she smiled at Yakunan. "Well, thank you, senpai."

With a curt nod, the thank you was responded to with 'your welcome', and they stood back from the finished tea. "Here, Suoh-san/Tamaki-senpai."

"Let the tasting begin." He announced, flourishing hand and posing like a demented model (he looked like a demented model at least in Yakunan's eyes). His customers and those of the twins received drinks, but they only stared doubtfully at it, shifting around.

"I'm a little scared to drink this stuff." "I'm afraid if I drink this, my father will yell at me."

The tick on the back of Yakunan's head pulsed a little harder, but she kept her temper as much under control as possible. She drew a girl's attention, a fake smile on. The girl's cheeks warmed at the sight. "I don't think you will get yelled at… just keep it a secret for me, okay?"

She nodded rapidly. "O-okay! I will!" she took a sip. "Wow, it tastes like normal tea!"

With one more smile, Yakunan nodded her head and herded the girls who were supposed to be her next customers over to her table for the last five minutes. As soon as they sat down, the questions began again.

"So, why aren't you wearing the uniform?"

The host shrugged. "The uniform is expensive, so I didn't get one."

They gasped in surprise. "So you're a commoner?"

With a nod, Yakunan responded. "Yes, I am. It isn't too hard though."

"Resourceful!" "Brave!" "So handsome!"

The last comment came to her hearing, and she blinked. "Did you just call me… handsome?"

The girl who this was directed at blushed. "Well… some of my friends say so."

It was then that Yakunan was vaguely reminded of her first case with the SPR.

 _\- Flashback -_

 _Yakunan watched in amusement at the interactions between Kazuya and her roommate, Mai. "So why did you go into the ghost hunting business?" the young girl was asking._

 _"_ _Because someone had to do it." He answered shortly._

 _Mai asked a few more questions, but Yakunan had tuned out, her annoyance showing in the form of a tick on her head when she couldn't set up a few monitors properly._

 _"_ _Wow, clever and handsome too!" Mai's comment pierced her concentration. She blinked twice in amused surprise and turned around to see Naru looking at Mai with a curious look._

 _"_ _You think… I am handsome?"_

 _Mai blushed and stuttered. "Well, the girls in school said so…!"_

 _He smirked. "Then they have good taste."_

 _For a moment, Mai just stared at him before turning around with an annoyed and incredulous look on her face and muttered something forcefully._

 _Not knowing that she had just witnessed the making if Kazuya's nickname, she chuckled silently, seeing how they were almost immediately having such amusing interactions. Usually, Yakunan had to wait a lot longer to see any type of funny interaction between Mai and another person, but she always had a way of opening people up and bringing out their true selves gradually._

 _\- End of Flashback -_

Yakunan's lip quirked up to one side as a slightly mischievous look sparked for just a moment on the very edge of her eyes. "Then they have good taste."

The girls blushed, and were completely silent for a moment… before they started fangirling even louder than before. Yakunan's expression switched back to her politely pleasant and slightly distant front.

After more conversations were had and more tea was drank, Yakunan hosted one more group, then finished for the day. She went around to see if there was anything she could do, as she disliked the prospect of more boredom and wanted something to occupy her time.

"So he had this nightmare that made him bolt up and fall out of bed." She heard Hikaru laughing off to one side. She looked over to the table the twins were sharing with two girls.

"Hikaru, don't tell them that story." Kaoru's eyes became damp and he frowned sadly. "I asked you not to tell anyone that. Why are you so mean to me?"

Hikaru took his twin's chin in his hand and pulled Kaoru closer. "I'm sorry, Kaoru." His voice was low and slightly husky, which caused Yakunan to give them an annoyed and slightly disgusted look. "I didn't mean to upset you. But you were so adorable when it happened I had to tell them. I'm sorry."

A small, almost unnoticeable frown appeared on her face and one of her eyebrows shot up somewhat, her expression highly critical and very irritated. Haruhi watched from the side and merely sighed, knowing that this reaction would be common amongst most normal people. Yakunan's frown became more intense when she thought she may possibly have seen red, sparkly roses appear behind them. She was of the opinion that it was stupid.

When Kaoru gave his brother a watery smile and forgave him with a sickeningly sweet expression on his face, the two girls they had been sitting with started fangirling crazily. "I've never seen brotherly love quite like that!"

Her eyebrow merely rose further, and she saw the questoinable display as not brotherly love, but 'twincest'. With one last frown, she shook and turned away, deciding that staying there and pondering over that would be bad for her health.

Smiling at some customers who had sighted her and waved, one thought echoed through Yakunan's head.

'This club is insane…'

* * *

 **Mai: So, who is Cassidy?**

 **Beigedecore: She's a character in a Harry Potter fanfiction on my wattpad account~ I have, of course gotten way better at character development and rationality, so now my character isn't as overpowered as the other one! Yay~!**

 **Cassidy: I thought being overpowered was cool! Weren't you going to finish the fanfiction on my second year at Hogwarts?**

 **Mai: Why did her mood change?**

 **Yakunan: *murmurs* She hates being woken up in the mornings and she has AB blood type.**

 **Mai: Oh…**

 **Beigedecore: I'll probably transfer my story to Fanfiction and rewrite it, so Cassidy, you aren't being deleted.**

 **Cassidy: That's good, phew!**

 **Beigedecore: But I'm gonna change your personality~!**

 **Cassidy: HHHUUUHH!? You can't do that!**

 **Beigedecore: Yes, I can! I'm the author, remember~?**

 **Cassidy: *slumps over in defeat***

 **Hani: Hey, Beige-chan! You forgot something~!**

 **Beigedecore: Huh~?**

 **Hani: Read the next chapter and Review this one!**

 **Cassidy: And even though I'm not in this fanfiction, follow and favourite!**

 **Beigedecore: How did I forget** ** _again!?_**

 **Mai and Cassidy: *drag away Beigedecore, who is ranting about being forgetful and disorganised***

 **Yakunan: *sweatdrops***

 **Hani: Hey, Ya-chan, why are the two strangers dragging away Beige-chan?~**

 **Yakunan: Don't bother about it.**


	3. Introduction - Part 3

**Beigedecore: Konbanwa! (Good evening!) Genki desu ka? (Are you healthy?)**

 **Mai: *grumbling* Stop it.**

 **Beigedecore: Nani? (What?)**

 **Mai: Stop trying to sound like you're better at languages than I am!**

 **Beigedecore: Nihonjin desu ka, ne. (You are Japanese, right?)**

 **Mai: Yeah…**

 **Beigedecore: Well I (obviously) speak English! We're just using a special translating thing to talk! (or something)**

 **Mai: Hmph, well, I can speak English pretty well!**

 **Beigedecore: You can speak it pretty well, but even now, your pronunciation is terrible~! You should practise! You're already in third year!**

 **Mai: Grrr!**

 **Madoka: Hi there, Mai-chan, Beigedecore-chan!**

 **Mai: Oh, hi Madoka!**

 **Madoka: I decided to pop in and check on Noll, but he told me to remind Beigedecore that Ghost Hunt and Ouran High School Host Club don't belong to her!**

 **Beigedecore: *grumbles* How does he find time to annoy me so often!?**

Mai

Yakunan turned to another table where some of Honey and Mori's customers were waiting patiently. Without making a sound, which was natural to her, she perched on the windowsill nearby and stayed where it was quiet - well, it was quiet there at that moment. She just hoped that quiet would last.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Mori entered with Honey sitting on his shoulders. "Sorry, we're running late." Honey yawned tiredly, rubbing his eyes in a way that his customers would call cute and sounding as though he had only then woken up.

"Hello, Honey-senpai! Hey, Mori-senpai!" one customer greeted with an excited smile.

"We've been waiting here for you guys, hi!" another waved happily.

"I'm sorry." Honey apologised groggily. "I was waiting for Takashi to finish his Kendo meeting and I fell asleep." Another yawn escaped his mouth. "And I'm still not completely awake.

"So cute!" the girls fangirled. Yakunan sweatdropped, but her expression remained blank and calm.

With an almost inaudible whoosh, the wind blew especially hard through the window she was sitting at, and the bells in her hair, which she had on at all times in case she needed to do an exorcism, jingled softly, echoing in and around the small area Honey and Mori were hosting in. The heads of the girls and the hosts shot up, though Yakunan was aware that Honey and Mori where she was as soon as they entered the room.

What they looked up to see was Yakunan seated on the window, her head leaned back against the pillar next to her, staring into the distance with a thoughtful expression. Her hair waved in the breeze, and the bells reflected small hints of light when the moved.

"Oh, Ya-chan!" Honey greeted her energetically, his big eyes shining with curiosity. "I didn't see you! When did you get here?"

Turning her head suddenly, after having her peace rudely interrupted, she looked at the small teenager. "Excuse me, but I would prefer it if you called me Hima-san or Hima-kun." She smiled to soften her words somewhat, not wanting for any students to hate her or Kyoya to begin threatening her as he seemed liable to do. Yakunan had no time to waste on that. "And I was here a few minutes before you arrived."

"Do you want some cake?" he asked eagerly, pointing at a slice of vanilla cake. She seated herself next to two girls with a polite smile and an 'excuse me', which they didn't appear to mind, and accepted the sweet with a 'yes, thank you'.

They all talked pleasantly for a while, and Yakunan allowed herself to enjoy the mostly peaceful atmosphere, thankful for the fact that any fangirling that happened wasn't too loud. To her, it was pleasant in that time.

As she moved her head suddenly, the bell in her hair jingled again. A girl turned to her. "Hima-senpai, why do you wear a bell in your hair?"

Yakunan answered her carefully. "I wear it because of the personal meaning it has."

She smiled sweetly, and all the girls blushed just slightly. Honey's head tilted in question. "What kind of personal meaning does it have, Hi-chan?"

As Yakunan quickly put together an answer or that question, she commented to herself in resignation that 'Hi-chan' was a better name than 'Ya-chan'. It seemed many minutes to her, but only half a second to the others when she spoke her formed answer, a smirk on her face. "It will have to remain a secret for now."

He pouted, his eyes watering. "B-but… I wanted to know…"

Her expression became somewhat more serious. "As I said…" and the previous look returned as she raised a finger to her lips. "It's a secret."

Suddenly, Honey's eyes widened for what seemed to Yakunan to be for no reason. She pondered. Shrugging, she put it aside, not wanting to lower her concentration and awareness by pondering on something so small in great detail. She was tired enough anyway.

While the Host Club went on, Yakunan looked around the room, studying and taking in as much of it as possible. She wanted to know her surroundings well, and the Host Club seemed like the kind of people who would only spring ill-timed, annoying, nasty or time-consuming surprises on her.

Haruhi approached her, apparently done with her duties, and they stood in silence for a while. That was, until the Host Club ended and Tamaki and the Twins started arguing while pulling Haruhi into the middle of it.

As her expression became increasingly annoyed, Yakunan decided to 'save' her, if only to take revenge on Tamaki for being an irritatingly strident person to her and to ask Haruhi a quesion. Mainly the first though, since her pride had been injured.

Yakunan pulled off the wall and approached Haruhi casually. "Haruhi-san, may I talk to you?"

She looked up in surprise and slight relief, eager to escape Tamaki's loud and somewhat silly comments and the twins dramatics. "What is it?"

Ignoring the outraged protests of Tamaki and the twins, Yakunan too Haruhi's wrist and lead her to a quiet corner, a smirk on her face the entire time. Something occurred to the crossdressing first-year, and she looked up. "Did you do that to provoke them?"

They stopped, and Yakunan answered her. "I did."

Haruhi deadpanned. "I'm going then."

"There is one thing I want to ask." The nineteen-year-old headed her off.

"Huh?"

"You didn't answer me earlier. Why you are in this club?" the green-eyed third-year asked bluntly, her tone implying that she was displeased with not being answered.

A few ticks appeared on Haruhi's forehead, but she answered all the same. "Tamaki was harassing me and I broke a vase that cost eight million yen."

"He already knew you were a girl?" Yakunan asked, not thinking that was true.

"No, he didn't. He thought I was gay." She deadpanned.

Yakunan's lips twisted into an amused smirk. "He lacks brain cells."

Haruhi's expression reverted to her normal and slightly blank one. "Yeah, he's annoying." But Yakunan noticed her tone had a hint of affection in it.

"And you must already be falling for him, am I right?" she leaned into her kohai's face.

She blushed. "No way!"

A true smile formed on Yakunan's face for a moment, seeing that Haruhi was so similar to Mai, but it completely disappeared when she heard a yell of anger. She turned to see Tamaki leaping across the music room with a baseball bat in his hands. 'What the hell…?'

"DON'T YOU HARRASS MY HARUHIIIII!"

Quickly, Yakunan darted to the side, pushing Haruhi as well so that they didn't get injured by the bat. They landed with a thud, while there was a smash as the baseball bit destroyed the floor where they had been standing.

"Uh, senpai…" Haruhi caught her senpai's attention.

She looked down and saw that she was on top of Haruhi, one hand beside her head and her other beside Haruhi's shoulder, and both her knees holding her up over Haruhi.

Yakunan got an annoyed look on her face. It was yet another bash to her pride. She got up, helping her kohai up as well and turned to Tamaki.

"You almost hit Haruhi."

"'Haruhi'!?" Tamaki shouted, looking horrified at how Yakunan referred to Haruhi with no honorifics. Yakunan winced inwardly at her slip up, realising that even at that point, she still had English speaking habits.

A tick mark appeared on the back of Yakunan's head. "That is not the point. Your thoughtlessness nearly injured myself and Haruhi. We could have been sent to the hospital, Suoh-baka."

Suddenly, a gloomy aura radiated from the corner, and Yakunan thought that Tamaki had somehow teleported there, but just stored away in her 'Ouran Highschool Logic' 'folder', just as she did with anything else that she hadn't been able to explain.

Again, she realised that what had once been a wall had somehow been converted into a corner, and deadpanned. It was possible that they did carry walls around, from what she was seeing. She felt as though her gakubu-chou (Dean) had shoved her into some crappy shoujo manga. She could just imagine his annoying, smiling face and overly-innocent laughter in the background. At this thought, another tick popped up and the others just pulsed more. She began thinking of more ways she could kill the Dean, the first she thought of being pulling his arms from his sockets and leaving him to bleed out.

"Well, that's another afternoon over." Hikaru was saying.

Kaoru nodded. "It was rather dull though…"

Identical smirks formed on their faces, and Yakunan considered making a prayer to all the Gods she knew of that they never met Yasuhara when he was in a pranking mood. Pushing this thought aside, she looked at her Haruhi. "Haruh- "

All of a sudden, they grabbed her and looked her up and down, prowling around her and occasionally poking her. Where the other ticks had faded, another popped into existence. It was then that she wanted to punch the Dean and the Chairman. 'Perhaps punching Tamaki would do…'

"You need a makeover," Hikaru began.

Kaoru finished. "Or no girl's going to look twice at you."

"I don't need a makeover." Yakunan began to walk away.

Yakunan felt an unexplainable shiver go down her spine (which she refused to acknowledge), and when she looked around for the source, she saw Tamaki, whose eyes were gleaming forebodingly. "Yes, you do! I order you to have a makeover!"

Yakunan had learned in quick time how to refuse him effectively, and used an efficient, quick and very clear one word answer.

"No."

This time, a corner was already available, and he sulked in it, drawing circles in dust which 'magically' appeared. Wondering how it even got there, Yakunan decided she would study it later and just classified it as yet more 'Ouran Highschool' logic.

She approached her bag and picked it up, searching the room for her book and teabags, then putting them in the bag. When she was done, the entire Host Club seemed to be plotting, minus Haruhi and Kyoya. Haruhi wanted no part in it, while Kyoya had a piece of folded paper in his hands.

"What?" Yakunan directed this at Kyoya.

"This piece of paper contains all that Tamaki had to fault about your performance this afternoon. I suggest you take on his advice if you want more customers." He answered.

With a polite nod, she received the piece of paper and turned to go, not really wanting to stick around in Music Three for longer than she had to. Yakunan rubbed her temples tiredly, wondering how an afternoon could last so long.

All of a sudden, someone lifted her up and sprinted with her to the side of the music room, depositing her abruptly on the ground. She skidded a few centimetres and stopped, then glanced around. Surmising that she had been dumped in the change rooms, she turned to leave, but was blocked.

A boys' uniform was shoved in her face, and the twins were behind it, ushering her into the stall. Yakunan attempted to resist, not saying anything and not wanting to get changed. After all, there was a reason she wore black all the time.

"Change, change! Change! Change! CHANGE!" they chanted. She narrowed her eyes, glowering fiercely, and the room dropped a few degrees. She tore the clothes from their grips.

"I will remain in these clothes." She stated stiffly, her tone final. Their eyes widened in slight fear.

"Eh, okay…" and with those words slowly said, they fled the room much faster. Yakunan sighed heavily, folded the clothes neatly and walked out. The entire Host Club was waiting, and all of them (except Haruhi, Mori and Kyoya) looked disappointed to see her not wearing the uniform.

She gave them all a stern look. "Don't expect me to wear the uniform."

And with those words, she put it on a nearby table and walked out, not turning to look back. She picked up her bag and pushed the doors open. 'I can finally go home…' she sighed quietly.

Then, when the word 'home' echoed around in her head, her eyes widened, thinking of Mai. She had to phone her eighteen-year-old roommate to tell her that she was attending club so that Mai wouldn't attempt to punch her when she got home. An annoyed huff escaped her lips, but to anyone else, it was just a very short and quiet exhalation of air.

Yakunan put her bag on a table and whipped out her phone, hastily dialling Mai's number. Bringing her phone up to her ear, she heard it ring four times until it was answered. "Hello?" Mai's voice came through the phone.

"I see you still lack the brain cells to check who is calling you." Yakunan stated. There was some loud whispering and shifting behind her, but she ignored it, knowing that it was the Host Club.

"I AM NOT DUMB!" Mai shouted through the phone.

The nineteen-year-old university student who was enrolled in third year chuckled. "Okay, but do you want an explanation as to why I am _late_?" She shot a sideways death glare at Tamaki, causing him to teleport to the wall, somehow turn it into a corner and start sulking. As the twins snickered about Yakunan a new record for insulting Tamaki, her phone issued static sounds.

She moved away as the twins started openly taunting Tamaki and smirking when the annoying blonde started shrinking into the corner away from the twins. Meanwhile, Haruhi was trying to mediate between the twins and Tamaki. Yakunan knew it wouldn't work, though.

"Huh?" the line was silent, and then… "Oh, yeah! I was worried! YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED SOONER!"

With a wince, she spoke again. "You don't have to shout. In addition, I wouldn't have been able to hear you even if you were yelling."

"Why?"

"I joined a club. I'll probably be eighty minutes later than usual." Yakunan told her roommate.

Said roommate sighed. "Really? That's a shame…"

"It might be, Mai, but at least it is something to do, correct?"

"I guess…" then she made a sound as if remembering something. "Oh, and Naru called. He wants to meet to talk to us at a cafe tomorrow in the afternoon."

Her face paled marginally. "I hope I am hearing you correctly, and that you haven't lost more brain cells." Yakunan turned away from the Host Club.

"I HAVEN'T!" Mai shouted. The pale-faced crossdresser brought the phone away from her ear slightly.

"Well, I will arrive home in ten minutes, Mai-chan," she sighed. "And don't forget to buy the ingredients I listed so that you can make the recipe."

"Okay…" there were some choked sounds and spluttering, as well as expressions of disgust from her end.

"Are you sure you haven't lost brain cells?"

Mai growled. "I was just talking to you for too long! Now my tea is cold!"

Yakunan deadpanned. "That is due to your inattention, not because of this conversation."

"You're so annoying! Goodbye!" Mai shouted. Yakunan hung up, and she could almost hear the younger girl's protests which she was no doubt making. 'I can't believe it! She hung up on me again!'

With quick movements, Yakunan put her phone in her bag. "I need to leave. I also won't be able to attend club tomorrow."

"Why?" Tamaki asked curiously.

She pulled her bag on her shoulders. "Something very important just came up."

"Like what?"

Once again, a smirk formed on her face. She felt like annoying Tamaki (and maybe Kyoya). "It's a secret."

With that, she left the room by jumping out the window, leaving them there gaping and sprinted out of the school to the underground. With considerable haste, she took a train to Shibuya and ran into the apartment that she shared with Mai.

She was met at the door by her roommate, who had an annoyed expression on her face. Mai shifted the bags in her hand and greeted Yakunan grumpily.

"Good, you managed to buy food without hurting yourself."

Ticks appeared on her head and Mai growled. "Shut up."

 **Beigedecore: Gah! Finally! The end of the first chapter-part thing! Yusss!**

 **Mai: You seem pretty happy to be done.**

 **Beigedecore: Of course I am! It marks the first part of my fanfiction writing!**

 **Ayako: You're just being overdramatic. Lots of other people write fanfictions as well.**

 **Beigedecore: *borrowing a portable corner from Tamaki and sulking in it***

 **Mai: *sweatdrop* Please read and review, because I think Beigedecore-chan is unhappy that Ayako-san doesn't think the fanfiction is very good yet.**

 **Ayako: Of course it isn't! I don't see a line for me yet.**

 **Yakunan: She is introducing myself (the OC) and the two animes in the first Chapter. Chapter 2 Case 1 is when you get your first line. Don't be vain and presumptuous.**

 **Ayako: Oh, and what makes you any different, you annoying PK user!?**

 **Yakunan: Player killer? Are you referring to another version of my character of which Beigedecore wrote of in a private SAO fanfiction when she was bored?**

 **Ayako: What are you talking about!?**

 **Yakunan: I suppose the author likes myself more than you, then. Ha.**

 **Kirito: *gets shoved into Author's Note room by another OC* Uh, hey. Favourite and like, please. Then maybe the author will get closer to getting onto her next project.**

 **Yakunan: Go away, you aren't supposed to be in this fanfiction.**

 **Kirito: I- *gets kicked out***


	4. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 1

**Beigedecore: Ah, hello again~! I have an awesome chapter to read today, and it's about 5500 words long~! I've set a personal record! Yay~**

 **Kyoya: According to my data, there are fanfiction writers who have written chapters of 10000 words in length and higher. Your achievement pales in comparison to that.**

 **Beigedecore: You don't have to be so rude, Kyoya-chan! *pouting* Be polite, or I'll… I'll… take your deathno- I mean, notebook and replace it with a plushy banana!**

 **Kyoya: I am afraid that if you do, I will call in my private police force.**

 **Beigedecore: *takes his phone* Too bad! I've got your phone~**

 **Kyoya: *sighs* Well, before I leave, I will alert you that Beigedecore does not own Ouran High School Host Club. *leaves***

 **Luella: Ah, hello dear!**

 **Beigedecore, Hi, Luella~! What is it?**

 **Luella: I visited Noll, and he asked me if I could drop in and say that you don't own Ghost Hunt. That lazy child! Next he does that, I'll make him wear a dress…**

 **Beigedecore: *tick on head* I think I'll help~**

* * *

What is the World Coming To?

The next day, Yakunan was walking to school, the day sunny and cheerful, birds twittering in small bursts and darting around in the air. She was pissed off, and wished the birds would drop dead and the clouds block the sun, since nothing should be so cheerful at such an early time. As she was making her way to Ouran, someone bumped into her, letting out a small exclamation of alarm.

Turning around, Yakunan turned and reached out towards whoever it was, catching there arm, and after half a second of struggle, managed to pull them up. The person who fell turned out to be Haruhi, so Yakunan tugged the first-year to walk beside her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yakunan-senpai. But good morning." Haruhi greeted.

The senior nodded curtly, and Haruhi sighed, knowing that was probably about as much recognition as she would get. As they entered the gate, a few girls stared at them, hearts in their eyes. Yakunan had the feeling that had the other members of the Host Club been there, they would be surrounded by a huge group of girls. Just as she grouched and groaned in her mind, commenting about how it was good that they weren't, she was proved wrong.

"Good morning, Haruhi and Yakunan-senpai!" the twins greeted, and the two turned to see the twins walking into the school and waving in unison. A couple more girls had hearts in their eyes and a few approached them.

"Good morning Hikaru-san and Kaoru-san." Haruhi returned.

Noticing that Yakunan hadn't even acknowledged their presence and was just continuing to walk on, they hooked their arms in hers, much to her chagrin. "So, Yakunan-senpai, what's got you in a twist?"

She didn't give any sign of wanting to answer, and instead pushed them away, glaring blackly at the air in front of her. When a bird walked across the path, she glowered at it, and the twins seemed to catch on. "If you're tired, senpai, you should just go to sleep." Kaoru told her with a deadpan expression.

"Yeah, no one would enjoy being glared at." Hikaru added as if it were obvious.

Pinning another glower to their faces, she turned away from them and walked off. After a few seconds of awkwardness, the twins went back to their usual past time of teasing Haruhi.

Meanwhile, Yakunan was walking through the corridors and trying not to appear too scary, when a pair of footsteps approached. They were heavy, like any male's would be, but also quiet and cautious, like a trained soldier or a student of karate, taekwondo or hand fighting. She would know because Mai had started taking self-defence lessons on the insistence of Ayako and Monk, and since Yakunan wanted to keep an eye on her to make sure she wouldn't get hurt from her own clumsiness, she also took the classes.

She didn't turn or acknowledge them when they fell in step with her, as she she was still grouching about having to wake up early despite having been up for about two hours. "Hello, Hi-chan!"

A hand took hers, and she looked down to see Honey on her left. Making no move to take her hand from his, she grunted in greeting. Something about the small teenager relaxed her. Maybe it was because she saw the maturity behind his expression and trusted him to act sensibly in situations where it was needed, but it could just have been that he reminded her of… her dead older brother.

Mind wandering, she conjured up images of her brother when he was young in her head, wishing that he hadn't gone. He had always been kind, generous and the complete opposite of her (except for the morning temper. Neither of them had ever liked getting up in the morning). Thinking of him made her heart ache.

Honey walked hand in hand with Yakunan, and he noticed the way she looked at him. Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion and pain, and for a moment, he could see sadness and melancholy in her eyes before she steeled herself. When she had closed that emotion off, he wondered if it was even there in the first place.

Wanting to take her mind off whatever she was thinking as they walked through the classroom, he thought about what he could, clutching his teddy to his chest. Even when the girls were fangirling, he didn't pay as much attention as usual and just gave a cheerful greeting, then sat down.

While thinking, he decided that he would need a cookie to cheer himself up and reached into his bag where he usually had a dozen cookies in a smaller bag. Yakunan and Mori watched his behaviour, then froze (and Mori stiffened somewhat in dread as well) when they saw an upset look plaster itself on Honey's face and tears come to his eyes.

"Wah! Taka-chan, I can't find my cookies!" he sobbed, rubbing his eyes. The girls around suddenly started getting alarmed and ran around like chickens without heads, and Mori was trying to find something for him to eat. Sighing, Yakunan put her bag on her desk and took out a few English tea biscuits she had in her bag (which Mai sometimes put there along with the teabags).

She took one out of the box and offered it wordlessly to Honey. Said eighteen-year-old looked up with damp eyes, and when he saw the offered tea biscuit, his expression cleared a sweet grin lit up his face. "Yay! Thank you, Ya-chan!"

Since there had just been all that drama, Yakunan sighed, already feeling somewhat drained and suffocated, and didn't bother correcting him. By then, most of the female students in the room had started squeeing, and she was surrounded by girls thanking her, being in awe of her and claiming she was a hero.

She tried to deny all the claims, but she just gave up and resorted to quoting from movies in her head. 'Just smile and wave,' she thought, and put on a polite smile. When the bell rang and the teacher entered, she felt her relief so sharply that she almost let that emotion be displayed blandly across her face.

Luckily, the teacher started class almost immediately, and while listening, taking notes and answering questions, she acted as unsociable as she could to get back some of her calm and composure. Once class finished and it was time for lunch, Yakunan sighed, packing away her belongings, and decided that going to eat in the gardens where no one else was would do her a lot of good.

Once she was outside, she sat down and took out her bento. As she ate calmly, Sakura petals floating down around her and the wind blowing gently, she heard more and more noise coming from one particular window. Looking up quickly after chewing and swallowing some sushi, Yakunan saw many girls crowding the windows of what she realised to be the cafeteria.

Deadpanning, she made a note to not sit outside in that particular location ever again, and continued eating after smiling and giving a mature wave to the girls. She ignored the increased amount of fangirling from the female students for then, and put her finished bento in her bag. With one graceful movement, she stood up and slung her bag onto her bag. After brushing a couple of petals off her shoulders, Yakunan walked away from the area and into the building, not wanting to be in the middle of an excited group of girls.

But apparently, whatever high being above had different plans for her, and a large group of girls in the corridor swarmed towards her. Overwhelmed, she peered around subtly for a way out, but when she didn't see one, she stiffened.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted the Host Club bar Haruhi walked around the corner. The fangirling caught their attention, and once she knew Mori was looking, she called "Mori-san! Please assist me."

His eyes narrowed, and he jumped off the walls, flipped over and landed next to Yakunan. The next moment, she found herself sailing through the air with Mori and landing right next to the Host Club. She nodded to Mori a little stiffly and muttered her thanks.

Tamaki had started speaking. "Your performance before when you sat outside and ate your lunch was amazing, but you have to learn to please the ladies with both and actions of grace and spoken words of beauty, like me!" He twirled seriously.

She deadpanned. "It wasn't a performance."

He ignored her. "I hope you took the advice that I gave you, because you need to be taught the way of a host!"

This time, she couldn't have been bothered speaking, and even she had, she knew she would have been ignored. She felt someone's stare on her back, and someone else staring at her face. Turning around, she spotted a male teen with a dark glare behind the crowd of girls. His leer was aimed right at her, and she stared back unaffectedly.

Stretching her PK out, Yakunan felt that it might have been a spirit or a possessed person. She wasn't sure, since he was too far away for her to see clearly, but it was her hypothesis. When he grinned and pointed at a girl, her eyes widened a bit, and he dissipated into nothing.

Not really paying attention to the Host Club, she walked towards the girl, and when Tamaki tried to stop her, she bore into his head with a fierce glare. "Be quiet and don't get in my way."

He sulked in a corner yet again, but she didn't worry about it too much. Walking towards the girl, Yakunan tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me."

"Yes, what?" the girl turned with a cunning smirk.

"What is your name?"

"Kazuto Kayaba. Yours?"

She gave a small smirk. "Yakunan Himakocha. Good bye."

With that she turned away, fingering her bells. Approaching a girl, she caught her attention. "May I talk for a moment?"

"Oh, yes?" the girl answered, her and her friends blushing.

"Will you do me the favour of telling me her name?" she gestured towards the girl who had said she was Kazuto Kayaba.

"Oh, she's Kimiko Ruuji." The girl answered. "Why do you ask?"

Yakunan smiled. "No reason."

Looking back, she saw the Hosts walking off, Haruhi and the twins together, then Kyoya and Tamaki, and Honey and Mori. After adjusting her bag strap, she made her way to her classroom hastily, since the bell had just rung.

All day, she thought about what had happened. A guy called Kazuto Kayaba had possessed a girl, Kimiko Ruuji's, body. She noted it down in the back of her notebook that she used to take notes for her University project which would allow her to graduate. The teacher came around, checking up on work, and Yakunan showed her already-completed list of mathematical calculations with boredom.

With a satisfied nod, the teacher passed on, and she went back to making notes. She knew the spirit could be tied to her, the school or the general area. Making a few last predictions and adding more to the profiles she had on each host for her assignment from the Dean, she closed the book and sat down, waiting for the final period to end.

When the bell rang, she immediately stood up and left the room, being the first for a while. Hurrying over to the Host Club, she arrived there first and set up for it.

Five minutes later, the door opened quietly, and she looked up to Haruhi peering in. Yakunan waved her over silently, and they finished setting up the room. When the Host Club did arrive, they walked in to see everything sparkling in cleanliness, and fresh red and white roses set in vases around the place, petals littering the floor and an atmosphere that was relaxed, yet intense.

Their eyes found Yakunan and Haruhi sipped tea elegantly while being seated in front of a pair of windows. Sakura petals fluttered through the window softly, and Tamaki's eyes were trained on Haruhi, a slight blush on his cheeks that was, to his mind, unexplainable.

"Ah, my daughter is so mature and elegant!" he commented in his usual tone of doting and stridency. He rushed over to her as she put down her tea _quietly_ an hugged her, spinning her around in circles. "Perfect! That air of elegance and maturity was amazing! So cute!"

"Mori-senpai! Help!" Haruhi called out. For the second time since Haruhi was forced to join the club due to debt, Mori helped her escape being suffocated. Yakunan just continued sipping tea and occasionally giving Tamaki annoyed glances.

As he started imagining things which she thought were probably perverted, she spoke. Someone who knew her well may have thought that it might be to stop him from imagining those perverted things, but the Host Club had only known her for a week or so. "Are you going to open the club, Suoh? Or did you forget?"

Tamaki suddenly snapped to attention. "Ah, yes! Men, and woman, assemble!"

All of the members stood at the door, but Yakunan refused to do the weird welcome thing and just stood behind Haruhi with a small fake smile plastered on her face. Once the girls were welcomed in, Yakunan sat down at a table.

The girl who had been possessed earlier was sitting next to Kyoya, talking with him. While attending to customers, she purposely sat herself so that she could watch the girl. On a few occasions, she and the girl made eye contact, and they would smirk at each other before going back to whatever they were doing.

Most of the hosts didn't notice this, but Honey and Mori, being sharp martial artists, noticed after about ten minutes. When their customers were all gone, they watched Yakunan finish up with her last group.

Getting up, the third year host felt herself being watched, and turned to the possessed girl subtly. Seeing that the girl wasn't watching her, she turned around… and deadpanned inwardly when she saw Honey and Mori sitting in the area she had been hosting in and watching her carefully.

She shrugged and moved off, approaching the girl. "Excuse me,"

"Yes?" a smug smirk slid across the girl's face.

"I need to talk with you. Is that inconvenient at the moment?"

"Not at all. Sorry, Kyoya-senpai!" the girl waved and was directed towars a corner by Yakunan.

With a serious look, the host began; "Am I allowed to know why you are here?"

Kazuto Kayaba, who was possessing Kimiko Ruuji, smirked. "I wanted to lure you in. You are the only with the ability to help me."

Yakunan figured from the way that her expression flickered, the spirit was having a hard time holding on to her sanity. Well, most people would find it difficult to remain sane in a ludicrous school like Ouran. "How do you want help?"

"Solve my case." She demanded, then her eyes fluttered. After wavering for a moment, she collapsed. Hastily, Yakunan caught her and hoisted the girl into her arms. Meanwhile, the Host Club, which was closed by then, saw Kimiko collapse and ran over.

Tamaki arrived first. "What happened to the Princess?"

"What does it look like?"

Haruhi came next. "Kimiko-chan collapsed, I think."

"I wonder why…" Kyoya commented, writing a few notes in his notebook.

Yakunan shook her head in annoyance. She didn't have time for this. She had to meet Naru (and possibly Lin) with Mai. She was already going to be somewhat late as it was. She put Kimiko into Mori's arms suddenly. "I need to go. Good bye."

With that, she jogged over to her bag, picked it up and walked out of the room, putting the bag straps over her shoulders as she went. The Hosts observed her as she left the room, her posture resigned. A second after she left, it was Tamaki who suddenly teleported and got out a whiteboard.

Eventually, they (minus Haruhi, who insisted they were being rude and prying) had all plotted a plan call the 'See What Yakunan is Doing Plan'. The twins dragged Haruhi off and they all changed into 'commoner' clothes very quickly and caught up with Yakunan, who was making her way casually down the street.

They ended up in the busy end of Shibuya, where Yakunan went into her apartment for about ten minutes. Just as they were going to leave, the door opened, and they continued with their stalking.

After fifteen minutes of the Hose Club ducking over to different stalls and small shops, regrouping and re-stalking, Yakunan stopped at a nice cafe and went in. Tamaki and Kyoya entered, then Honey and Mori, and lastly the twins with a reluctant Haruhi.

Despite trying to not be spotted, Yakunan had been aware of them stalking her when she went into her apartment. She merely let them stalk, seeing as it wouldn't help if she tried to make them go away. However, when they seated themselves in the booth behind the one Mai was already in, Yakunan was annoyed.

Whispering to Mai that her club members were stalking her, they moved over to a different booth which had a group of loud adults behind and a big family of nine in front. A few minutes later, Naru entered with Lin.

The two seated themselves at the table, and Mai looked down at her lap, her stomach twisting and her complexion pale. Yakunan made her order something and then got something for herself. All of them ignored it when Tamaki came to take their order (in a disguise) and told him what they wanted. Mai, Lin and Naru didn't recognise Tamaki, and Yakunan knew acknowledging Tamaki would make things harder.

Naru opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly, a child, who happened to be Honey, was running around and fell over. When he started crying loudly, Naru and Yakunan had ticks on her head. Yakunan pretended not to see the twins push Haruhi over.

Haruhi picked up Honey and carried him away, a grumpy mother aura around her for some reason. Then, Naru began to explain again.

"I am reopening the SPR as a low key branch of the BSPR. You have one week to accept or decline a job offer for your previous position." He told them bluntly.

Mai, who was drinking water, started choking, and while Yakunan patted Mai's back, Naru had an amused look in his eyes, which no one except Mai caught. This caused her to blush red and choke on her water even worse. Once her breathing was under control, Yakunan was about to answer.

They were interrupted by the arrival of Tamaki, who put their plates down and asked if they wanted anything else. With a tick on her forehead, Yakunan turned to him. "No thank you."

With the tick pulsing, she made sure he had walked away before speaking. Turning head up to look at Naru, she gave him her answer. "I will take my job back by the end of the week. I still have something to handle before then."

She thought about Kazuto Kayaba. Who was he? Was Kazuto actually a girl with a boy's name? How did he die?

Meanwhile, Mai was thinking over it. It had been a while since Naru was last there (about three or four months), but maybe she could…? Pondering whether she would regret it, she came to a decision. "Okay, I'll have my job too and come in by the end of the week…!"

They all stared (even Naru) as two men started brawling in the middle of the room. Another tick appeared on the back of Yakunan's head when she recognised those men were part of a private police force. Thinking back to what Haruhi had told her about Kyoya, she supposed those men were his.

The patrons of the cafe looked unsure, but didn't interrupt either of the men or call the police, and the one who appeared to be the owner was looking on in interest and excitement, his arms crossed.

Yakunan made eye contact with Haruhi over the room, and Haruhi rolled her eyes. With a smirk, Yakunan ignored the fighters and continued sipping her water calmly. When the food was finished, the four of them left the cafe and the Host Club. Exhaling in annoyance, Yakunan took Mai's wrist. "Saa. [Come on.] Ikimashou. [Let's go.]"

As Naru and Lin went one way, Mai and Yakunan paced the other. "So, Yakunan, who were the people who were stalking us?"

With an aggravated huff, the black clothed crossdresser explained. "The waiter who attended us is is my club's President, the kid who fell over is a third year in my class, the girl who took him away is in debt to the club and forced to be a part of it and the two people who were brawling are part of the Vice President's private police force."

"Your clubmate has a private police force?" Mai gaped.

"Yes, did you not listen when I said that was going to attend to Ouran Academy?"

She turned red quickly. "You didn't say that! I would have heard!"

 _\- Flashback -_

 _After filling out all the forms and reading up on the pamphlet the Dean gave her, Yakunan set off for her kitchen, where Mai was cooking dinner. Her roommate was probably still annoyed at her for not ever saying that she couldn't cook earlier, but the long-haired female knew the other's disposition, and Mai was likely to be cheerful._

 _This encouraged her, because despite taking self-defence lessons with Mai, she wasn't as good at it as Mai was. She was better at the attack side of things. Therefore, she didn't really want to be punched by Mai, but since the young girl probably wasn't angry any more, there was less of a chance of her getting punched._

 _She peeked into the kitchen to see Mai cooking what smelled like curry. Her mouth became slightly wet at the scent, and she entered the kitchen, impressed by Mai's cooking (not that she would ever say that) "Good evening, Mai-chan. I have finished filling out the forms to enter Ouran Academy."_

 _Meanwhile, Mai was imagining being at Hawaii for a holiday. "Oh, that's nice."_

 _After about ten minutes, dinner was served and Mai had no idea what school Yakunan had been enrolled in._

 _\- End of flashback -_

"So that's what happened?" Mai asked curiously. "But where is Hawaii?"

Deadpanning, Yakunan waved her off and pulled them down an alley to shake off the Host Club. "Forget about it."

"Huh? Where are we going?" Mai looked around nervously.

Rushing them through the alley, they came out the other side. "We are losing the Host Club."

She spotted a man in a suit with sun glasses and a phone to his ear (he was looking at them too), and glared at the ground. Growling quietly, she led Mai across the road and into another alleyway. Since it was a dead end, they climbed it using the dumpster that was put there and jumped down on the other side.

With haste, Yakunan and Mai escaped the alley. "Where are we going, Yakunan-chan?" Mai questioned.

Yakunan was intending to go to a small shop in an alleyway which she knew sold hats and scarfs (but not sunglasses) so that they would be harder to recognise. "A shop."

"But the shops are closing soon!" Mai protested, since it was five thirty.

Ignoring the younger's vehement protestations, she put a finger to the other's lips and went down another rather dim and somewhat suspicious alley way. Yakunan approached a small shop and went in with Mai, then grabbed a scarf and a hat.

The girl at the counter greeted them, and after they paid for the items, Yakunan wrapped the scarf around Mai's neck to cover her face and put her prescription glasses (for when she was reading) on Mai's face. "Give me your jacket," Yakunan ordered.

While Mai did so, Yakunan pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on the hat, then Mai's jumper. Glancing at the glass of the shop window and seeing that they looked a lot different to what they usually did, Yakunan left the alleyway and made a beeline across the busiest streets to her apartment.

Once they arrived on the street, Yakunan was about to go to her apartment building when she saw the Host Club gathered outside it. "Dammit," she muttered. "We'll have to go in through the bath room window, Mai-chan."

Nodding her understanding with only some reluctance, Mai followed her annoying older sister figure down a road and behind their apartment building where they could enter the alley next to it without being spotted by the Host Club. Yakunan tested the drain pipes running up the side of the building and nodded to Mai.

They were halfway up the building when someone opened a window. Yakunan flattened herself against the building just under the window, her heart beating wildly, not wanting to think of the consequences of being caught in such a suspicious position. Mai followed the other woman's example, and they hugged the wall with bated breaths as the person looked out the window.

It seemed a long time until the person decided that it was too cold for the window to be open, and they waited for a little bit more until they confirmed that 'the coast was clear'. Yakunan gestured for Mai to follow, and they climbed over the window, using a water pipe to help them.

Yakunan had tried to guess which window was theirs, and she looked up to gauge how far they had to go. Luckily for them, Mai had forgotten to close the window (Yakunan refused to think it was her who forgot, as she usually didn't). "Two more windows up from here, Mai-chan."

Mai glared in annoyance. "Do you wanna say what you mean by that?"

"Our bath room window is to up from here." Yakunan sighed, adding, "I thought you were intelligent enough to understand that."

"You jerk!" Mai hissed quietly, her face flushing dark red and arms shaking in anger.

The older girl exhaled sharply, a sound that almost sounded like a laugh, and smirked. "Don't fall, Mai-chan.""

Nodding and glaring, Mai pulled herself over the window and almost got hit in the face by Yakunan. She grumbled in annoyance.

When they finally got to their bathroom window, Yakunan peeked in just to make sure it was their bathroom, and after reassuring herself that it was, hauled herself through the window. Mai pulled herself up to the window as well, and with some assistance from the long-haired crossdresser, was in the bathroom.

They left the bathroom and went into the lounge room, too tired to do anything. Yakunan sat there for a while, waiting until she heard the Host Club leave, then glanced at Mai. The younger of the two girls had fallen asleep, and was leaning peacefully on the arm of the lounge chair.

Sighing, Yakunan picked Mai up gently, and with some effort, got her into her own bed. After covering the brunette with some blankets to keep her warm, the exorcist left the room as quietly as she and closed the door behind her.

In the kitchen, as Yakunan was making tea, she heard a knock on the door. A tick appeared on her head and she moved over to get it. "Dare? [What?]" She glared, yanking the door open.

Monk, who had been knocking on the door, winced. "Not a good time?"

Yakunan's pissed off expression faded, and she exhaled softly. "No. Come in."

He entered the house and sat down in the lounge room. A moment later, Yakunan had two mugs of tea on the coffee table, and they sat there sipping it. She didn't say anything, knowing the monk would talk when he wanted to. "So, where's Jou-chan?"

"She was tired and fell asleep."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what was with your mood?"

"My club mates were stalking Mai and I, therefore, we had to climb in the bath room window to avoid them." She answered, her expression darkening.

"Woah, cool down! They're not here right?"

Taking a sip of her tea, Yakunan tried not terrify Monk with a dark aura and calmed herself down. "So, why did you really come here?"

Monk sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Well, did you get a phone call from Naru-san?"

"No. He invited Mai and myself to a cafe to talk. Did he offer your job back?" she questioned.

Nodding, Monk confirmed it. "He did, and I accepted it. Did he offer yours and Mai's?"

Yakunan raised an eyebrow with an 'are you an idiot?' expression. "Of course. We are coming in at the end of the week. I need to sort out a haunting at the school I am attending."

"About that," Monk began, "When did you get into school? I thought you were in university?"

A tick appeared on Yakunan head again. "The Dean of my university enrolled me in Ouran for a year on a scholarship to study seven people and write a thesis about their dispositions and how long it would take for their souls to corrupt." She clunked her empty mug onto the coffee table loudly.

Seeing how openly annoyed Yakunan was, Monk chuckled. "I guess the Dean is in for something painful then, isn't he?"

The crossdresser grunted an affirmative. "And the Chairman of the school isn't much better. He acts like a preschool kid."

Yawning, Monk leaned on the back of the chair. "Well, at least he isn't like the Principal of Yasuhara-kun's school."

With another grunt, Yakunan stood up and took the mugs to the kitchen. As she was crossing the hallway to the lounge room, there was more knocking on the door. The long-haired woman went over to it warily and opened the door. Her expression became slightly less tense when she saw it was Ayako and (to her surprise) Masako. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we need to talk." Ayako answered her, shoving through the doorway. Glowering, Yakunan let Masako in as well and slammed the door, locking it.

Just as the three seated themselves in the lounge room, Mai came out. "Oh, hi, Ayako-chan, Bou-chan, Masako-san."

"Oh, hey Mai-chan!" Monk greeted. "Finally gotten your sleepy head out of bed?"

Turning red, Mai growled, "Oi! It's not my fault I was tired!"

"Good evening, Mai-san." Masako greeted quietly.

Ayako crossed her legs. "Hello, Mai-chan. You should sit down."

Calming somewhat, Mai sat next to Yakunan on the couch. The crossdresser massaged her temples with her fingers and looked up. "Why are you all here?"

Masako responded this time. "Naru-san phoned us and offered our jobs. Did he contact you?"

"Yeah," Mai answered. "And he invited us to a cafe. I don't know why he couldn't just phone us…"

Monk laughed. "I guess he wanted to see you, Mai-chan!"

"No way!" Mai shouted. 'I already confessed, and I guess he rejected… I wish I knew of Gene before then…'

Yakunan patted Mai's shoulder, seeing how sad she looked. Out of all the people Mai had told, only her and John knew of the conversation Mai and Naru had had.

As they all stewed in their thoughts, another knock came from the hallway, and Yakunan stood up, going to the door with an annoyed expression on. She opened the door again to see Yasuhara and John. She sighed. "Just get in already."

Shutting the door firmly after they went in, Yakunan locked it and dragged herself reluctantly back into the lounge room, almost collapsing onto the couch. "Let me guess, Naru-san phoned you two as well?" she asked flatly.

"Yes, he did, Yakunan-san," John nodded. "Are you- "

She cut him off. "Yes, Mai and I are taking back our jobs, no, he did not phone us. He invited us to a cafe."

"Ah, so Naru-chan wanted to see his dear Mai-chan?" Yasuhara teased.

Mai, John and Yakunan winced to different degrees at this. Yakunan sighed in annoyance, and leaned back. It seemed that while they were having their conversation, Ayako and Monk had been chatting, and the woman was now hitting Monk over the head with her purse. "You old Monk! You must be blind!"

"What do you have in that bag!? Bricks? Ow!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"You must be getting grouchy in your old age, woman!"

"Then you're getting stupid in your old age, perverted monk!"

"Ow!"

Sighing, Yakunan leaned back on the couch, trying to ignore the loud fighting in the background.

John started to try quelling the argument. "Now now, let's all try to get along here…" but as usual, he was at a loss as to how to stop them.

Mai and Masako were talking quietly, and although there were a few jolts in their conversation, they got along mostly well. Yasuhara, meanwhile, started to aggravate the argument between the Monk and the Priestess as much as humanly possible, putting all of John's weak efforts to quiet them to waste.

With this familiar 'lullaby', Yakunan went to sleep quicker than she usually would. Later on, she would wonder if perhaps, they were the best people she had ever met.

* * *

 **Beigedecore: Well, there we go~ The next chapter will be awesome!**

 **Ayako: Well, at least you gave me some lines at the end.**

 **Monk: Don't mind that old lady, she just-**

 **Ayako: *hits Monk with purse***

 **Monk: Ow! What was that for, woman!?**

 **Ayako: You're so rude!**

 **John: Now, now, calm down please... Ah, I forgot to say - please read and review. *bows***

 **Yasuhara: Yeah, and favourite and follow too!**

 **Beigedecore: Why don't I ever get to say it? *pouting***


	5. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 2

**Beigedecore: I'm back~! After I don't how long I. Am. Back. Yay~!**

 **Naru: If you decided on a deadline instead of procrastinating, then readers would be reassured that you are going to continue your Fanfiction. Or did that thought not occur to your small brain?**

 **Beigedecore: I'll get to that in a minute! Now, I would just like to say that-**

 **Naru: Beigedecore does not own Ghost Hunt, otherwise it would be a terrible manga and anime.**

 **Beigedecore: Stop doing that~! It's annoying! :|**

 **Mai: Hello! What's going on?**

 **Beigedecore: Ah~ Hello Mai-chan~! Would you mind if you seduced Naru-chan quicker and fell in love with him harder so that he would be tame and stop interrupting me?**

 **Mai: Huh?**

 **Beigedecore: …Never mind.**

 **Mai: …Okay…?**

 **Beigedecore: Oh, and by the way, I have decided that the amazing thing that can be called a deadline will be a condition~! I will post at least one chapter every week if I can~ Expect a lot more chapters in a week or two because I get a break soon~! Hoorah~**

 **Mai: Why are there more squiggly things in your dialogue than usual? *reading script***

 **Beigedecore: Because I feel more cheerful than normal~**

* * *

Tamaki

The next day, when it was lunch time, Yakunan sat down at a metal garden table on the balcony to the cafeteria, eating her bento thoughtfully. The cafeteria shone cleanly, the pink walls lightening the mood and the windows sparkling. A particularly large cherry blossom tree had grown next to the balcony, providing shade from the sun.

She had done some research the night before on who Kazuto Kayaba could be (with Yasuhara) and had come up with the information that he had died because of an assassination planned by one of the Japanese Yakuza groups. Of course, that was only after she bribed the second-year with five cups of coffee and the promise that she would invite everyone to the apartment in the next fortnight. Yakunan rubbed side of her nose near her eyes with her right hand. The sacrifices she was making… that spirit better hang in there, otherwise she would exorcise it in the most painful way she possibly could.

Even with all that bribing, she had only managed to get that information because Yasuhara was a brilliant hacker, and was still at a loss of how exactly Kazuto Kayaba's death happened. Thinking on it, she decided that perhaps she might bring Mai to the school so that she could have a dream. Yakunan was hesitant to do this though, since she knew how sensitive Mai was to the dreams she had and didn't want the younger girl to go through too much.

There was a soft scrape as the chair across from her was pulled out, and she refocused herself to see Haruhi seated there. "Ah, Haruhi-san," she nodded.

"Hello, Senpai. Sorry about yesterday… those guys are idiots sometimes."

Shrugging Yakunan finished swallowing her fish. "My roommate and I had to buy disguises and climb through our bathroom window to avoid them."

Haruhi blinked in surprise. "You did that?"

Yakunan gave her an annoyed 'I-just-said-so-and-I-won't-repeat-myself' look. Haruhi deadpanned at this information.

They sank back into an uncommon silence, eating their food for a while, when six other people seated themselves with the two girls, scraping out the chairs and chatting loudly. Yakunan and Haruhi had ticks on their heads and continued to eat their food, ignoring them studiously.

"Hello, Haruhi-chan!" Tamaki greeted energetically. Yakunan blinked, astonishment on her face for half a second when she thought she saw a dog tail on him. She shook her head and closed her finished bento.

Leaning back slightly, she glared. "So, did you have fun stalking me yesterday?" she emphasised the word 'stalking' rudely.

"Don't be angry, Ya-chan! We wanted to know where you were going!~" Honey explained, his eyes huge, while the twins and Tamaki freaked out in the background.

Yakunan's expression softened slightly when she looked at the third year, unable to stop seeing her older brother in him. "Don't pry into my life, then."

"What's so bad about it?" Hikaru began in a very laid-back tone, suddenly recovering from his panic attack.

Kaoru nodded in agreement, hanging his arm over the back of the chair. "Yeah, I mean it's not like you have too much to handle."

A tick appeared on the back of Yakunan's head. She thought about all the things she had to do - the SPR, her online university work, her school work… she definitely had a lot to handle. "I have a lot to handle, contrary to what you may believe." 'And I have Mai to handle…' she sighed inwardly.

"Like what, may I ask?" Kyoya questioned.

She avoided answering his question and stood up. Walking calmly over to the door, she opened it and was about to leave when she saw a red-haired girl running down the corridor in urgency. When the redhead tripped, Yakunan deftly caught the girl with her arm (after all the time Yakunan had spent catching Mai when she tripped over, it was reflex) and set the girl on the ground carefully. "Are you okay?"

Blushing heavily, the girl nodded. "A-ah, yes! I am…!"

With a firm nod, Yakunan turned to leave the overly-fancy cafeteria. The girl fangirled behind her (as did all of the customers Yakunan had that were present in the cafeteria). "Bishounen!"

At this, Yakunan shook her head with a slightly raised eyebrow and made her way quickly to her classroom, eager for some peace so that she could research Kazuto Kayaba more. The only thing she thought of the incident was that there seemed to be recurring pattern where the girls called her 'bishounen'.

By the end of the day, she had a thoroughly pounding headache, and wasn't at all looking forward to the Host Club. She left the classroom and walked down the hallway, stoically ignoring any fangirling that she got. She let a small fake smile play on her lips, and turned into another corridor to reach the Music room.

When she got there, she shoved the doors open and looked around. Every surface, was, as usual, clean to the point of shining, the soft red couches were puffed up and a few cushions were strewn on them.

The warm smell of something cooking wafted up her nose, and she peeked into the kitchen to see chefs making cakes and sandwiches, probably for the Host Club. Shaking her head with an amused smile, she decided not to help, as her cooking skills were sorely lacking. In fact, Mai had claimed in her usual way that they were non-existent.

Seeing that she had nothing to do, Yakunan seated herself on a couch and got out a book, but she couldn't bring herself to read the pages. 'Ha, well, they don't call 'To Kill a Mockingbird' a hard read for the first fifty pages just for the sake of it,' she sighed. Stuffing her book in her bag, which contained her pencil case, books, laptop and bento, then leaned back on the couch.

The headache that had been pounding away for a while intensified, and she rubbed her temples tiredly. She didn't notice as she fell asleep, her hands still on her temples.

* * *

The other members of the Host Club entered the music room about five minutes after Yakunan did. As they entered, most of them halted when they saw Yakunan napping on the couch, a tired look on her face even as she was resting. She even had her fingers on her temples as if she had been rubbing them before she fell asleep.

Haruhi was the first to talk, unaware of the gravity. "She must be stressed if she looks tired in her sleep."

This broke all the others out of their surprise except for the twins, who seemed to have realised something. They shared a look. Hikaru leaned over to his twin. "Do you think that maybe…"

"It might be possible…"

They finished in unison. "Let's check his student ID!"

The next moment, they received a bruise on their heads from Haruhi. "Don't be nosy, Hikaru-san, Kaoru-san!"

"Sure, sure…"

"Fine then…"

Once they made sure Haruhi was gone, they crept over to Yakunan's bag, and were just about to pick it up, when a buzzing sound came from it. They retreated behind another couch as quick as they could, breathing raggedly in alarm (which, if Yakunan was watching and was someone else, she would have thought was excessively loud, obvious and dramatic). "Wow, we nearly got found, Kaoru."

"We'll have to be careful next time…"

Meanwhile, Yakunan sat up and reached into her bag groggily, fishing out her phone. She looked at it. An extremely irritated look took over her face (well, it was just the slight downward curl of her lips and a tick on the back of her head) as she clicked a button and put it up to her ear. "Dare [What]?"

A voice came through the phone. Yakunan commented in her head that the girl was being as loud usual. "Don't be so rude all the time! What if I had been someone else!?"

"Then I would have turned off my phone, Mai-chan. Now, what?"

"Madoka-chan, Masako-san and Ayako-chan invited us to a cafe, and John, Monk, Yasuhara, Lin a-and- " she paused slightly before saying the last name. "N-naru, are going to a bar…"

"Good for you," Yakunan snapped irritably.

Practically hearing the wince from Mai as she went on and tried to keep her temper under control, Yakunan listened. "You are so rude! You can't just refuse an invite like that!"

"I just did, Mai-chan, unless you lost even more brain cells since this morning. I have work to do."

This aggravated Mai even more. "How about you just relax for once? Do you even sleep?"

"Just go without me."

"Come on, you have to come, Yakunan-chan!"

"…"

"You have to! Madoka-chan said she would, um…"

"What?"

"Force you into a pink dress…"

Yakunan paled just slightly at the thought of the crazily cheerful woman dressing her in a pink frock. "Fine." And with that last word, she hung up and shoved the phone into her bag, looking more and more irate. She heard some hushed talking over to the side and snapped her head around to see the Hosts peering at her University ID.

She walked up to them and took it from their hands stiffly, putting into her pocket, ignoring the stares from the other Hosts. "So… you're a girl?" Tamaki asked.

Yakunan froze. After a tense minute, a smile slowly formed on her face, and she chuckled for a while. The other hosts became confused at this, until Yakunan spoke. "After looking at my ID, that's what you focus on? You must be getting dumber every day…"

But this was said in amusement and had a peculiar undertone to it, and while Tamaki sulked in *another* portable corner and Haruhi just stood there with a clueless expression, the other members understood the undertone.

Yet again, Tamaki's innocent, earnest and clueless nature seemed to have reigned in another troubled person.

For another time, he had reigned someone without even knowing how exactly they were troubled.

Once more, he had done it in such short time.

Because of this, they for once didn't ask any questions, caught up in their memories of how Tamaki got them to join the Host Club. Haruhi just looked at them all in confusion and shouted at the oblivious blonde in question to stop growing mushrooms near her school bag.

Wanting to make sure that Yakunan actually was a university student as it said on her ID, Haruhi asked her question. "Are you really in university, Senpai?"

The university student/third year turned around. "Technically, I am. The Dean of my University sent me here to finish my degree, and without considering if it was wasteful or not, enrolled me in this school."

Looking around, she spotted Tamaki sulking in the corner and frowned, half in annoyance, half in something else she wouldn't admit. While she didn't care about the blonde's feelings all that much, she didn't want him to be sulking in the corner all the time. With these thoughts in mind, she wandered over to Tamaki and tapped his shoulder sharply.

The blonde turned around, clutching his shoulder with puppy dog eyes on his face. "Yeah?" he asked sadly.

"Get up out of the corner. You have a Host Club to run without me." She gestured to the door, adding quietly and stiffly. "And… sorry."

Tamaki suddenly had sparkles around him and smiled, making a grand and prolonged speech full of flowery words and comments on how his cold neighbour had a tiny sliver of a heart. A tick suddenly pulsed into existence on the back of Yakunan's head, her expression full of annoyance.

"Well, isn't this an interesting development." Kyoya commented casually, making a few notes in his black book.

The twins nodded along. "Oh, yeah."

Yakunan reverted back to her usual self. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to leave soon. I have an engagement elsewhere."

"Huh? Where, Ya-chan~?"

"My friends invited me to a _female-only_ dinner at a restaurant."

"Can we come~? Please~ Please!" Honey begged.

"No."

"Yes, we should go, to see how commoner women eat at restaurants!" Tamaki cheered.

"As I said, it is female only. It is a private celebration gathering, so you cannot come. Now, I do need to go, so goodbye."

They stared, and Haruhi commented. "I think that's the first time Yakunan-senpai said 'goodbye', right?"

"Hm, yeah, I guess you're right~!" Honey-senpai nodded. "Hey, Ya-chan, what subject are you doing in university?"

A tick appeared on Yakunan's forehead since she had just wanted to leave, and she turned around sharply. "Parapsychology. Oh, and Kyoya?"

"What is it, Yakunan-senpai?" he looked from his note book, a completely fake polite smile on his face.

"Will you give me all the information you can find on Kazuto Kayaba?" she asked. Yasuhara was a good hacker, but there would be some things that Kyoya could possibly get that wouldn't be anywhere on the internet.

"Why should I?"

"There is something I need to resolve that concerns this person." Yakunan sent a warning glare to him.

"I will do this research for you, then." Kyoya conceded in irritation, giving a dangerous look back.

With a nod, she turned and left the room, her footsteps echoing back to the Host Club as she made her way out. She stopped for a moment. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes, my dear neighbour?" Tamaki answered.

She looked him dead on, a faintly annoyed expression on her face. "Don't stalk me."

Again, the blonde was sent to his emo corner, while the twins laughed at him. Yakunan shook her head and closed the doors, exiting the building.

* * *

 **Beigedecore: Aaand that's a wrap~!**

 **Yakunan: Your cheer is giving me a headache.**

 **Beigedecore: Huh!? You're mean, Ya-chan!**

 **Yakunan: Refrain from calling me 'Ya-chan'. Even if Honey is allowed to call me that, you aren't. That is as much leniency as I will allow.**

 **Beigedecore: My OC is so rude! Wah~ Why did I make such a defiant character!? *steals Tamaki's emo corner***

 **Yakunan: As Beigedecore-san is currently too indisposed to say it, read and review.**

 **Honey: Favourite and follow, too, Reader-chan!**

 **Beigedecore: I wanna do it next chapter~ I will beat them there! *determined look***


	6. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 3

**Beigedecore: So, before any of the characters enter, I would like to say-**

 ***Ding ding***

 **Beigedecore: Huh~? *looks in box of complaints outside of door* A letter? *opens letter***

 **Letter: 'Beigedecore does not own Ghost Hunt or Ouran High School Host Club. Shibuya Kazuya.'**

 **Beigedecore: That jerk! :O *tick on head***

* * *

'Mai and Naru… What a Headache.'

Just after Yakunan left, Honey spoke up. "What's Parapsychology?"

Haruhi put a finger to her chin. "Isn't it a study of spiritual powers and spirits?"

"Something like that," Kyoya nodded, glancing down at his notebook. "Parapsychology is the study of mental phenomena which are excluded from or inexplicable by orthodox scientific psychology. If you take this into account, then Yakunan is probably studying to be a psychic researcher or a ghost hunter."

Tamaki grinned in excitement. "My neighbour is so brave to study for such a profession! I will support her all the way, after all…"

Haruhi, meanwhile, was ignoring Tamaki and thinking about what Kyoya had said. While she had never had a particular interest in anything, something as mysterious as this did draw her attention.

It wasn't as though she liked mystery, since she would prefer to know things, but such unexplainable phenomena amazed her. She even forced her Dad to watch a documentary/movie called Children of the Grave on her birthday the previous year.

Her father had nightmares for weeks.

Despite her plans to be a lawyer, she had always looked into paranormal things, like the shrine nearby which was rumoured to be cursed and ghost games. She had played with ouija boards a few times and had even done the Daruma game, which her father had scolded her for afterwards when she came out of it with a creepy woman following her around.

At the time, they had to go all the way to Okinawa to find a reliable exorcist. It was only following that when Haruhi quit playing around with spirits, having learned that while most things wouldn't outright harm you, spirits were not usually restrained and had few emotions.

"Ah, my dear daughter! Have my deeply poetic words caused you to fall in love with me yet?" Tamaki swooned, interrupting Haruhi's reverie.

Her head snapped towards him. "Sorry senpai, what did you say?"

She stared blankly as Tamaki sulked in the corner yet again and the twins laughed and poked fun at him.

* * *

Yakunan opened the door of her apartment stiffly and entered, fast-walking to her room and putting her bag on the desk. While she would usually take her time, the prospect of Madoka dressing her up encouraged her to get ready quicker.

She took a shower hastily, then got into yet another pair of black pants and a black button up with a *black* singlet underneath. Brushing her damp hair with fast, practised movements, she left her hair down and put her reading glasses on, knowing she would have to read a menu when she got the cafe they were to eat at.

On leaving the apartment, Yakunan took a train to the station nearest to the cafe. As soon as she entered the cafe, Madoka threw herself on Yakunan with a hug. "Ah, it's so good that you were able to come, Yakunan-chan!"

"Likewise." She answered, nodding stiffly in greeting.

Madoka laughed indulgently. "Ah, you shouldn't be so stiff, Yakunan-chan!"

"Have you already drunk alcohol?"

"Huh? No, of course not!"

Yakunan raised an eyebrow. "Then I will not be here when you are drunk."

"You're such a rude little girl! Do excuse her, Mai-chan!"

Mai approached and pulled Yakunan away to the booth they had reserved prior to the event, and giggled when Yakunan commented (with a tick on the back of head) "Hm, she is drunk…"

They all snuggled up cosily into the booth (well, Yakunan and Masako didn't snuggle; it was Mai who leaned against Yakunan and Madoka and put her arm around Masako). A small tick appeared on the heads of both Masako and Yakunan, but unlike the medium, the exorcist did not push Mai off.

A few minutes later, Ayako arrived, complained about Monk's driving, and seated herself next to Mai. After placing her red handbag next to her, she picked up the menu. Mai, who had been perusing the menu, looked up. "This restaurant is pretty good."

"Yes, I suppose it is…" Yakunan agreed blankly.

After some thinking, Mai remembered that Masako had delivered the invitation. "Did you choose this place, Masako-san?"

The medium looked up. "No, I didn't."

"You didn't know?" Mai asked with an annoyed look and growled, shaking her fist at Masako. "You were the one who invited us!"

"I just delivered the invite. Or did you not hear? You _are_ dumb." Masako answered, smirking at the girl.

Yakunan snapped her menu shut, having already decided on what she wanted. "And on whose behalf did you deliver the invite?"

"I delivered it for Madoka-san." She answered. No one missed the medium's shiver except Madoka, though Yakunan suspected that Madoka was quite aware of it and was sitting next to the medium for the specific purpose of warning the girl.

"Onee-san!" came a voice.

Mai turned to see the little girl who she had once helped on a case and babysat a few times, Ayami, running towards them. The little girl stopped in front of her and hopped up onto the seat next to Madoka after offering a hug. Immediately, the two of them were off, talking about lots of things. Meanwhile, the girl's Aunt, Noriko, seated herself next to her niece and started to talk with Ayako and Madoka.

Masako and Yakunan sat silently in their seats, not talking with anyone and just waiting for their meal. The third year/university student felt annoyance cloud her for a while, wishing that Madoka would remember to tell her of such things like if she were inviting extra people.

Soon enough, a man came around to take their orders, and once he had scribbled down everything frantically on a notepad, he hurried away to the kitchens. Yakunan and Masako settled back into their seats, only to be dragged into a game of angry birds Uno by Mai and Ayami. While Masako accepted softly, hiding her unwillingness with admirable skill, Yakunan outright refused, saying she didn't want to play.

However, when Ayami began to look sad, she took it back and played. Inviting her to play the game seemed to have been a mistake however, when Yakunan won round after round after round, somehow getting extremely good cards (double numbers, draw 2's, change colour cards) and easily disposing of hers while causing either Mai or Masako to have at least five times the amount of cards they were dealt (in the game, Ayami wanted everyone to be dealt five cards).

As the afternoon waned on, the bright lights of the restaurant were switched on, illuminating the restaurant very well. The tables shone, clean and without grease, so much that one would be able to see their face in it. The same could have been said of the floor and the walls, and even the staff had neat-pressed uniforms and held shiny tableware. The televisions glowed with light, displaying sports matches and the news, and through a doorway, a bar and casino area could be found tucked away.

When the food came, they packed away the Uno cards, Mai pouting the whole time. "You're such a jerk!" she shouted at Yakunan when the older one commented about Mai's lack of skill and strategy.

"You just said that in front of a child, Mai-chibi." Yakunan patted her head.

The other girls stared, while Mai fumed. "MAI- _CHIBI_!?"

"There is no need to yell, Mai-san." Someone chastised. They swivelled around to see a blank faced Naru and the other men standing there and smiling or laughing with each other (or, in Naru and Lin's case, looking absolutely blank and uninterested). They all seated themselves a few seconds later, with Mai blushing bright red in embarrassment and anger.

"So, _Mai-chibi_ ," Monk began, causing her to turn her angry glare on him. "How was dinner?"

She glowered. "It doesn't matter how dinner went! You're so _dead!_ "

"You're starting to sound like Ayako!" he laughed, then let out a pained yelp when the priestess in question whacked him over the head with her purse.

"Don't call me by my first name!" she shouted, blushing hard. Anyone could tell it was in anger, but Yakunan also thought it was quite obvious that the shrine maiden had some form of attraction to the monk, whether either of them realised it or not.

As their meeting continued, Ayami asked to play Uno again, and everyone played. Mai forced Naru and Yakunan to participate, and Madoka and Yakunan pressured Lin (in their different ways) to play as well. The exorcist refused to be put through the torture unwillingly without forcing someone else to play as well. Noriko got out another two packets of cards, offering the explanation that Ayami liked to play Uno a lot, and dealt everyone five cards.

The first round came, and the people who had the most cards were Mai, Masako, Monk, John and Noriko, as Yakunan, Naru, Lin and Yasuhara were all very skilled players in the game, despite not having played before. Quite a few times, the four of them all had only one or two cards left, but then Yakunan would put down a '+2', which Mai would follow with a '+4' and a colour change, and Naru would be forced to pick up six cards, or Lin would place down a colour change, only for that strategy to backfire and have Monk place a '+4' on the next turn.

In the end, Yakunan won, again, and Mai complained about Yakunan's winning streak until Naru shut her up with a comment that caused her to blush red in annoyance. Ayami grinned, saying "This is fun! There are lots of people too! It's good, right, Oba-chan (Auntie)?"

"Yes, it is," Noriko answered with a gentle smile.

A while after that, they began to leave the cafe/restaurant/night club/whatever it actually was in twos and threes. John and Yasuhara left first, since they had to go back to their homes to prepare for the following day, then Noriko and Ayami because it was already pretty close to the little girl's bed time.

Soon after, Ayako and Monk left together, saying that it was getting a little late for them, then Madoka and Masako as well. The two women split up somewhere down the road from the establishment they had eaten in, and went their own ways.

The only ones left were Yakunan, Mai, Naru and Lin. When Yakunan went to the bathroom and arrived back, Lin stood up and offered to take a walk with her, aiming a subtle smirk between the two who sat awkwardly in the almost empty booth. Nodding in understanding, Yakunan fell into step with him, and they exited the place in silence. "So," the exorcist began. "How was England?"

Lin shook his head. She had always been the type who went straight to business unless she had no intention of talking about a subject. "It was wet and cold because we arrived in winter."

Moving slightly closer to Lin when a cold breeze swept down the street, she huffed. The man thought that it sounded almost like a laugh. "All the northern countries are like that."

The onmyouji gave a private smile to the night air - well, it was more like a smirk. Knowing that she didn't want to talk about anything to significant, he didn't go near the subject. "And was it warm here?"

"Not really. Australia is warmer."

"You've been there?" Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Once or twice. Hauntings there are quite interesting."

Despite the fact that he had to keep the conversation going and she made little to no effort, he was surprised she had walked with him at all. "Did anything happen while we were away?"

"Mai started taking self-defence lessons, as did I." Yakunan shrugged. "It came in handy when a boy from her high school stalked her. He's serving time in jail now, since Mai-chan was forced to use self-defence."

Lin almost stopped for a moment. He didn't want to know what his charge would say or do if he heard that that had happened to Mai. They sank into a silence, which neither was quite sure of. It felt awkward, yet peaceful at the same time.

Eventually, they found a quiet park, which Lin led them into. "The more time away from them we have, the more likely Noll will be to talk to Mai about what matters."

"It is likely he will just walk her home."

Lin chuckled. "You have the keys, don't you?"

Yakunan thought, and then smiled a little. "I do. Mai probably left hers inside again."

* * *

As Lin lead Yakunan away, Mai thought she would almost choke on the air, seeing how thick it was. She didn't miss the glare Naru shot his assistant as the two exited the shop and deadpanned. They sat there for a few minutes until Naru stood up, indicating for Mai to come with him.

She went over to the blue-eyed man, and he turned in the opposite direction to the two. As they made their way through the area, Mai recognised the direction they were going. He was walking her back home. Smiling at the thought, she walked beside him, a content aura surrounding her.

When they got to the apartment, Mai remembered the time she and Yakunan had climbed the side of the building to avoid the third year's club members and get inside. They got to the door, and Mai reached into her pocket to get the key.

It was then that she realised something.

She didn't have the key.

Looking at Naru, she began "Hey, Naru-san…"

"What is it, Mai?"

"I don't have the key… I think I left it inside." She blushed in embarrassment.

Sighing in annoyance, Naru walked back down the stairs, pulling her with him. They walked down the road in silence, and Mai didn't speak. It would take more than a chainsaw to break the uncomfortable silence.

Mai didn't need a chainsaw to break the silence, though. Taking a short breath, she spoke. "So… how was England, Naru-san?"

It was only just then how he noticed her switch in honorifics. He frowned. Despite how he wanted her to call him 'Naru-chan' or 'Naru' again, though, he restrained himself from saying anything of it. He knew she probably didn't like him… he drew his mind away from a subject it dwelled on too much. "It was winter when we got back and the hauntings were not of much interest."

After trying to think of something else to say and failing, Mai didn't say anything. They sank into an awkward silence as they walked through the city.

Naru looked at the lights and shops all around him, the business of the city once again giving him a headache. Bright signs were hung all around the place, lights of all different colours and intensity shone out of shop windows or fell on them from light poles. Cars whizzed along the road, only stopping when the lights at the crossing turned red, and the people around them walked and ran, some busy, some not.

While all this happened around them, though, Mai felt as though someone had sealed a plastic bubble of silence around them. The longer they walked, the more awkward it got, and Mai wished very hard that her keys would turn out to be in her pockets after all so that she could escape, take the train to her suburb and hide in her apartment.

Sometime later, Naru lead them into a park. "It's very noisy, and I have a headache," was his explanation.

Nodding, she looked around. "It's really quiet here… can we go to the small shrine that's near here?"

"Fine," he conceded.

They walked together on the path quietly, not making any attempt at conversation. Still feeling awkward, Mai stared at her feet.

* * *

Lin and Yakunan sat on a stone bench outside the small shrine which was in the park. The red Torii arches had stone cats next to them, and while the shrine wasn't used anymore, it was still maintained. The branches of trees hung over it, the obvious source of the leaves which were scattered all over the place, wavering softly in the absent breeze.

The heads of both shot up when they heard footsteps on the path around the corner. Lin stood up, his stance tensed, while Yakunan stayed behind him. She would only fight if she had to and Lin needed help.

To the relief and annoyance of the two, Mai and Naru came around the corner, an awkward silence surrounding them. Yakunan leaned her head in one hand, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she seemed prone to do when she was stressed or annoyed, while Lin sat down next to her again, looking vaguely irritated.

Mai spotted Yakunan and scurried over to her quickly. "Yakunan-chan, I left the keys to inside the apartment! You've got the keys, right?"

Giving a quiet indication that she had them, Yakunan held up the keys and stood. "We have to go, as it is quite late. Good evening Lin-san, Naru-san." With a small bow, she pulled Mai up the path, heading back to her house.

Naru glanced at his assistant. "You left on purpose."

The older of the two nodded and rose from his position on the bench. "I did. Did you two talk about anything important?"

"No."

He sighed. 'I hate their awkwardness… those two need to get their priorities straight.'

Naru turned away. "Let's go, Lin."

And so, both pairs went to their homes, the older out of each of them shaking their heads at the younger.

* * *

 **Beigedecore: Mai and Naru are so oblivious in this Fanfiction~! I regret the decision to make them oblivious! :(**

 **Yakunan: Be quiet. *trying to read book and has evil aura around her***

 **Beigedecore: S-sorry… *shies away in terror***

 **Yakunan: Read and Review. Favourite and Follow. Now go away.**

 **Beigedecore: Eh!? I didn't get to say it again!? And don't be so rude to the readers~!**

 **Yakunan: *glares piercingly***

 **Beigedecore: I-I'll just leave now… *runs away to another OC, Karima Juiri's, Fanfiction to get a break from scary characters, not that she will, because Kyoya is there***


	7. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 4

**Beigedecore: I'M SORRY! SOOORRRYY! I know I said I would update in a week, but I couldn't quite get the characters right! Kyoya-chan is so hard to write~~!**

 **Kyoya: Do you care to repeat that?**

 **Beigedecore: Never mind! But I humbly beg your forgiveness! I do! I do! Because I promised I would write again in the week… but I didn't! Waaaah! Sor-**

 **Naru: Spare your dignity and stop making a ruckus. Your noise makes it hard to concentrate. *checking through deathno- cough cough- notebook***

 **Beigedecore: …**

 **Naru: *sighs in annoyance* Beigedecore doesn't own Ghost Hunt. *demasu [leaves]***

 **Kyoya: Ah, I neglected to say - Beigedecore doesn't own Ouran High School Host Club. Good bye. *also leaves***

 **Beigedecore: Why don't I ever get to say it?**

* * *

Busy Schedules For All

It was earlier that week, when yet another customer came to Haruhi's table, that marked the beginning of one of the Host Club's minor shenanigans…

As Yakunan was pushing the door to music room three open with Haruhi beside her, a bolt of coldness speared her. She glanced around for it, and felt around with her PK, but there was nothing there. Upon seeing what was beyond the doors though, she deadpanned slightly, understanding why she had felt so cold.

"Welcome~"

The entire room was decked out like a tropical paradise. Trees from the southern hemisphere had been positioned around the room, all manner of snakes hanging from them and other birds as well. A colourful toucan perched on Haruhi's head, but she didn't do anything apart from stand there deadpanning.

'I can't begin to imagine how any of the other SPR members would react to _this_ circus of clowns…' Yakunan scowled.

'Can you see this from Heaven, Mum? This is the club I was forced to join.' Haruhi remarked in her head, her tone of thought annoyed.

Oblivious to the similar thoughts each of them shared, they stared in annoyance (though it didn't show as obviously on Yakunan's face) at the twins as they spoke. "You two finally made it. You're both so late."

Yakunan shot them an annoyed look. 'They could show some respect…'

Haruhi took out a calendar from nowhere and flipped through it. "I could be wrong, but my calendar says it's still early spring," she deadpanned. A sweatdrop appeared on the back of Yakunan's head as she glanced at her own pocket calendar. It was indeed early spring.

Tamaki's eyes shone as he launched into another long-winded speech. "Huddling under a kotatsu table, fearing the cold is nonsense. And besides, the heating system we have is the best."

Yakunan stared at him, masking her annoyance and not bothering to say anything. The over dramatic blonde continued, using his host voice for effect. "Gentlemen don't bundle up in bulky clothing. It may be a chilly early spring out there in the real world, but here at the club we want to surprise our chilly little kittens with a warm tropical paradise!" he gestured to the entire room with a flourish. "Oh yes. We've turned this place into nirvana, a balmy tropical island of everlasting summer!"

"That's funny, 'cause I feel a massive chill right now." Haruhi complained.

Yakunan just sent him a flat look, "Be quiet, Suoh-kohai," and walked off to sit at another window as was the ritual whenever the Host Club opened, so as to be in view of the door, but not up with the rest of the Hosts. She had insisted on it when Tamaki tried to move her.

The puppy dog-like second year sulked in a corner, a heavy gloom surrounding him and a purple aura of sadness and more gloom swirling about him. This changed abruptly though, when the doors opened, and Tamaki 'teleported' to his cushioned chair to welcome the girls into the Host Club.

After chorusing 'welcome~' at the same time (Yakunan didn't, as usual, only sending one of her smiles at the door, which had a hint of smugness in it since she had halted Tamaki's rather embarrassing speech early), Tamaki did his usual dialogue. "Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here at the elite private school, Ouran academy. The Ouran host club is where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran academy's elegant playground for the super-rich and beautiful."

And so, the Host Club officially began. Deciding she didn't want to hear the twins' twincest act or Tamaki's soppy romance 'thing', she remained in her area and only talked to Kyoya and Haruhi. Anyone else and she wouldn't be able to stop from snapping at someone in annoyance.

As Yakunan took a break, she was forced to walk past Tamaki's table to get a drink of water, and in the process, overhead some of Tamaki's talking - well, flirting. "What heartlessness, even with my lustrous skin shining like brilliant ivory, exposed by my Balinese king outfit, I'm no more than a slave before my goddess! I kneel before you and swear my loyalty."

She sped her footsteps somewhat to get away, when a comment from Tamaki drew her back. "I almost forgot to mention to you, ladies. Next week, the Ouran host club is sponsoring a party."

As soon as she heard that, Yakunan decided that avoiding the Host Club would be a good idea, since she was not the type who liked going to those kinds of celebrations. "We're throwing a party?" Haruhi asked. Apparently, she had also heard.

"What kind of party is it going to be? Is it going to be formal?" a girl questioned at Yakunan's table. Luckily, the twins responded before she could say anything about not knowing.

"Yes, in fact, we've rented the school's largest hall," one of the twins, presumably Hikaru if she based it on his voice, explained.

The twin, Kaoru, went on. "It's a perfect place for dancing."

Yakunan turned away abruptly and sipped her tea when the twins started doing a twincest act behind her. Barely restraining a wince, she put the teacup down with a sharp clink and turned the pair icily. "Don't you think," she began with a light tone and venomous undertone. "That you should host your own customers instead of mine?"

The twins shivered in fear, then saluted and ran away, while Yakunan's customers fangirled. "Himakocha-senpai got angry for us! Wow!" "I feel so special!" "How dreamy!"

Having gotten used to their fangirling a while ago, Yakunan allowed them to squeal excitedly for a bit. It reminded Mai of when she watched Log Horizon and fangirled over the parts she thought were really cool or sweet. It had become Mai's favourite anime, and she forced Yakunan to watch it with her over and over again. Not that she minded. The girl had unintentionally wormed her way into the crossdresser's closed heart.

Despite how annoying it was, Yakunan found it endearing, and unconsciously smiled. The three customers that were with her then saw and stopped fangirling to gasp and blush. Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, she looked up. "Oh, excuse me. You reminded me of someone I know," she apologised.

They shook their heads. "No no! That's fine!" a girl burst out.

Nodding, Yakunan poured some more tea for them all. A girl caught her attention, "Oh, yes?"

"Well… we just noticed…"

"Noticed?"

Another broke in, "We noticed that… you look really nice when you smile like that."

"Yeah, you should smile more! You look better."

Looking a little taken aback, Yakunan shook her head. "I don't look like that."

"Well…"

She cut them off with a smile, still thinking of Mai, "Don't worry about me, le signore."

They began to fangirl again, and the girl who had last spoken squeaked, "Bishounen!"

Again, that word had come into play. It was as though fangirling would forever doom her to hear that word. Leaning forward on the soft couch, she asked suddenly, "Why do you always call me 'bishounen'?"

"It really suits you!" "I can't think of anything else I could call you!"

After the Host Club finished, Yakunan sat at the windowsill, thinking on all the things that were happening to her lately. Glancing over to a table though, she saw Tamaki eating ramen from a plastic container.

"I can't take this anymore." He muttered gloomily, slurping loudly on the noodles. Shaking her head drily, Yakunan remembered earlier.

 _\- Flashback -_

 _Haruhi was responding to a comment the girls made with a smile, "You know, ladies, I think it's cute when you dream like that."_

 _A girl approached the table and tapped Haruhi's shoulder. "Excuse me. I hate to disturb, but I think it's time for the hosts to switch clients."_

 _"_ _Oh, I'm sorry. You must be my next appointment, Miss…"_

 _"_ _My name is Kasugazaki, Kasugazaki Kanako," she finished._

 _Just at that moment, Yakunan walked by with some more teabags and heard Kanako say, "You are even cuter than I expected."_

 _Sweatdropping rather obviously, she turned to watch. Kanako cupped Haruhi's face. "I have decided. From now on, you are going to be my new favourite host, Haruhi."_

 _The third year turned away in annoyance and went back to her table to continue hosting, completely disregarding the dark, swirling mess coming from the corner._

 _\- End of flashback -_

Hikaru looked over at him from the table. "Hey boss, why don't you stop eating that commoner's ramen and come over here to help us with the party planning?"

"Does it really bother you that Kasuga-hime has taken a liking to Haruhi?"

"He shouldn't be surprised. She's had the illness for a while now, hasn't she?" Kaoru asked him with a sweatdrop.

Haruhi looked up from where she was. "What illness?"

"She's got the host hopping disease," Hikaru explained.

Kaoru went on, "AKA the never-the-same-boy-twice disease."

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya explained in more clear terms about Kanako Kasugazaki. "Usually, our customers choose a favourite host and see them regularly. However, princess Kanako tends to change her favourites on a regular basis."

"That's right. 'Cause before she chose you, she was with Tama-chan." Honey explained.

Yakunan got up from her window and walked over to the table. "So he's upset that Haruhi is now the favourite of Kasugazaki-san?" she questioned in a slightly disdainful and irritated tone.

"Shut up! I couldn't care less." Tamaki interrupted, leaping out of his chair like a loaded spring. If he hadn't been sulking in the corner since Kasugazaki had declared that Haruhi was her new favourite, Yakunan would have believed him, but it was obvious that he was upset about it.

"I'm running out of patience. Haruhi, it's time you started dressing like a girl. I don't understand how you could be so popular with the ladies, when you yourself are a lady. No one in the entire school knows the truth except for those of us here." He ranted on.

"Yeah, she opted out of taking gym classes." Hikaru said.

Kaoru completed the bracket of proof. "And the attendance numbers are all mixed together so no one can tell."

Haruhi just stood there deadpanning, not particularly liking where the conversation seemed to be going.

Going onto the next level, of stupidity, he brought out a box. "That's enough, Haruhi. Now you listen to Daddy." Rummaging around, he found what he was looking for and ran to Haruhi, shoving in her face. "Daddy wants you to go back to the way you were!"

"Don't go blowing up my photos without asking me first!" Haruhi yelled at him, her expression angered and a giant tick pulsing erratically on her forehead. Yakunan stared in disapproval and turned away from it.

The way she saw it, it did not matter what a person looked like before, it mattered what they did in the present, how they did and if it was reasonable. She marked anyone who thought otherwise an idiot. For some reason, she was hesitant to label Tamaki as such, because even if he wanted Haruhi to go back to what she looked like, he accepted her.

Sitting down on a couch, she watched the male Hosts stand around the picture and muse about it, comparing and questioning it to the actual Haruhi. Yakunan felt a pang. She was accepted within SPR, but she wished that people did not find it so hard to get along with her.

After a couple more seconds of dwelling on her own misery, she pushed that to the side and walked up just as Hikaru began, "Hate to change the subject, but do you have formal dancing experience? You'll need it at the party."

Haruhi tried to casually refuse going. "The party doesn't have anything to do with my quota, right? I'm not interested in going to events, so if I could be excused…"

"Definitely not." Tamaki cut her off. "A refined gentleman must know how to dance. If you want to live the life of a host that badly, you're going to have to show us how far you're willing to go, Haruhi." A spark of electricity darted across him in the background, reflecting into his eyes. Yakunan knew better than to look around for effects, because they wouldn't be there. She had decided she would test Tamaki sooner or later.

"I order you to master dancing the waltz in one week and you will demonstrate it for us at the party." He saw the look in Haruhi's eyes, and continued with his threat. "Or I'll tell the entire school that you're a girl and knock you back down to an errand boy."

Haruhi slouched over in defeat, resigning herself to a fate of learning to waltz. Yakunan, now realising how tight her schedule would be, what with a lecture that you had to attend no matter what in six days - in other words, the day before the party - her time to go and start working at the SPR office, her goal to find out the spirit, Kazuto's, death and convict whoever did it, and the Ouran ball, knew she had a lot to do.

All of them except the lecture and her first shift at SPR were occurring on the same day, and she didn't want to do it all then. She knew she would have to delay her employment until after she solved the current dilemma, and it would have to be soon. A quick guess as to how patient Naru would be was… not very patient. Knowing that she would have to solve Kazuto's death before the end of the ball, she quickly reorganised her schedule in her head.

'Original employment time in two days.

Lecture in six days' time.

Party in a week.

Solve Kazuto's death in a week.

Punish whoever was responsible in a week.

Hoped employment time in a week and a day.'

* * *

 **Beigedecore: Again, sorry about not updating, and my update is pitifully short today at only 2316 words. Eh, what can I say~? I wrote this in a rush… he he *rubs back of neck awkwardly***

 ***crickets***

 **Beigedecore: Huh~ I guess I get to say-**

 **Keiko and Michiru: Oh, hello, Beigedecore-san!**

 **Beigedecore: Hm? I don't see either of you here that much. What're you here for~?**

 **Keiko: We couldn't find Mai…**

 **Michiru: We can't find her in the afternoons now, and we really want Mai to tell ghost stories with us.**

 **Beigedecore: Oh, um, I think she went outside, two corridors down.**

 **Keiko: Thank you, Beigedecore-san! Read and review!**

 **Michiru: Yes, favourite and follow as well!**

 **Keiko and Michiru: Bye!**

 **Beigedecore: I really need to get onto things and ignore distractions so I can at least tell my readers to do all that… *starts pouting around***


	8. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 5

**Beigedecore: Sorry that I updated slowly this time… I'll try to publish more tomorrow to make up for being so late~!**

 **Mai: That's good! What about your other fanfiction?**

 **Beigedecore: I'm on it, I'm on it, don't worry~!**

 **Mai: You have a lot of squiggly things in your script… *looking at script***

 **Beigedecore: Yeah, cause I get to say-**

 **Naru: *opens door casually and glances at Beigedecore dismissively* Ghost Hunt and Ouran High School Host Club do not belong to Beigedecore.**

 **Beigedecore: Um… *shocked***

* * *

Dancing

It was about five days later that Haruhi was having a practise session with Kanako. Tamaki was sulking in the corner about how he didn't get to dance with Haruhi, a dark, gloomy aura surrounding him, while the red-headed twins stood in front of him and made fun of him for their own entertainment purposes.

Yakunan had been thinking about the day before when Mai had gone to the office and she herself had had to change her employment time to a different date. Yakunan had gotten three days extension until her employment. In that time, the androgynous exorcist had also gotten more research done on the spirit and was to go to court to assist in charging a case the following day, which meant she would miss school. Then, following that, she had a lecture at half past three in the afternoon.

Having already missed two days of school (not within each other) because of the court case, she needed it to be over the next day. She didn't want to take the stress of taking people to court during the day, doing club and then going to the office - it was just too much.

While the court case was going quicker than usual, Yakunan had had to bring out one of her two trump cards to hurry on the case - that trump card being evidence from a couple of spiritual encounters with Kazuto, proof that she had encountered him and the somewhat illegal research that Yasuhara and Kyoya had assisted her in doing. Seeing as she was so stressed at that time, she was in an irritable mood.

"Haruhi is improving somewhat." Yakunan commented dryly. "She can dance for ten seconds without tripping over."

In truth, she was just very stressed and wanted to take it out on something since she had not been able to make it to any of her self-defence lessons. Maybe Honey could sense some of this, because he turned to her.

"What about you, Ya-chan~?"

And just like that, she had been dragged into more 'crap with the club', as she had begun to call it. Vaguely remembering that her truly bad moods were what came from stress, she cursed at whatever higher being was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.

Suddenly, the heads of the other hosts snapped towards her. Noting the sudden silence and knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid it now, she thought back quickly to all the parties she was forced to attend as a child. While she had memorised all the movements of the dancers out of pure boredom, she didn't have any practical dance experience. "I know the steps, but I have not rehearsed them before."

After some debate, Tamaki turned to her. Pointing, he yelled, "Then I order you to master the waltz in two days!"

She considered mastering the dance. Originally, she would only have gone there if she had to, and was only making room for it in her schedule in case. If she had to, she wasn't going to learn to dance, but seeing as the president had just ordered her to and she would prefer not to be threatened by Kyoya for a few reasons, the long-haired third year decided to accept.

Getting up from the couch since Tamaki was then the centre of attention, she stood in front of the window, imagined herself bowing to a partner (she did not feel the need to show respect to the air) and then started the dance steps.

Meanwhile… "Boss," the twins caught the blonde's attention.

"Yakunan-senpai might be pretty good at hosting," Kaoru began.

"But it's not like she can master the waltz in two days."

Kyoya joined in the conversation. "Yes, after all, Haruhi began learning five days ago."

While the others had been talking, Honey and Mori turned to watch Yakunan performing her steps. They began sloppily, but then she would fix her footing somewhat, angle herself slightly, put a slight spring in her step to increase her movement and trace out a pattern on the floor. It was then that Yakunan felt glad she had taken self-defence lessons with Mai, because it added grace to her moves. "Ya-chan is pretty graceful, isn't she, Taka-chan?" Honey remarked innocently, clutching his bunny.

"Yeah." Mori nodded.

The other Host Club members turned around to see Yakunan practising the steps to the waltz with somewhat impressive grace and strength. While she made a small mistake every three to five seconds, she fixed it and continued, not halting in her steps, but looking somewhat miffed and glaring at the air.

Haruhi, Tamaki and the twins gaped in shock, while Kyoya made a few notes in his black book. Honey and Mori just watched on in interest (well, no one was sure if it was interest in Mori's case, A/N: not even the author).

Kyoya approached the slightly shorter third year a few seconds later and stopped her. "Yakunan-senpai, there are a few girls who have asked to be your practise partner." He pointed towards the door where Tamaki had recovered and was welcoming two girls in. "I would recommend you dance with them." He adjusted his glasses frostily, and they glinted with bad intentions in the ironic warmth.

She nodded wordlessly (again, allowing herself to be threatened, albeit grudgingly) and approached the girl on the left. "Good afternoon, signora. Would you like to dance?" she asked, holding out a hand, a small, and not to mention fake, smile on her face.

Blushing, the girl accepted, putting her hand in Yakunan's. While Kyoya pressed play on a CD player, the long-haired third year lead her partner to the middle of the floor.

Releasing her hand, she stepped back, and they both bowed or curtsied. Re-taking the girl's hand, Yakunan went into the first few steps of the waltz, maintaining eye contact with her partner as much as possible. While Haruhi was being helped by Kanako Kazugazaki, Yakunan lead her partner across the floor in simple dance steps.

"Can you do more complicated dances?" the girl asked after a while of dreamy staring (only on her part), still blushing lightly.

Thinking back to seeing her parents' dancing, she nodded a little slowly, the memories somewhat unclear. "I could attempt to do so. May I try out a few steps?"

The girl, whose name she had learned was Sakura a few moments before, nodded. "Yes."

Yakunan twirled the girl once, then went back into the normal steps. 'I think that was clumsy… if I want to get out of doing practise tomorrow, I need to improve.'

Taking another step, she spun Sakura once again, then dipped her, sweeping her across the floor and pulling her up again.

It felt like many minutes later, but was really only five when Sakura switched with her friend, Ayumi, and they began the waltz again. The soft taps of their feet on the floor and the music created gravity for the dance, and light floated through the windows, illuminating the scene.

Haruhi gaped at the how extraordinary it was when she and Kanako passed the pair, with Yakunan's long hair illuminated in the sun, light reflecting off her green eyes and the sparkles surrounding her. It was at that moment that she realised just how androgynous the third year was and slouched face-first against the wall with an annoyed look on her face, abandoning her partner by accident. The twins quickly pushed her back into the dance and Kanako went over to get Haruhi as well.

The third year just felt that it was ironic with two pairs of girls dancing together in a host club where girls went to flirt with boys. She restrained any sign of amusement, which was easy because of the burdens she had on her. As they danced, Yakunan got lost in her thoughts, thinking with something akin to eagerness about the prospect of having a few burdens lifted off her shoulders.

When the dance finished, Yakunan bowed to her partner and withdrew her hand. After straightening up, she led both of the girls over to a table where they talked for a while. Sometime later, Haruhi finished dancing with Kanako.

Kanako seated herself at a table and took a sip of her tea, then put it down. "This is Genori, isn't it?" she asked curiously.

After adjusting his glasses, Kyoya commented, "You have a keen eye, mademoiselle. In fact, we just received them yesterday. We decided that it was about time for the club to upgrade its tea sets."

The host hopping girl continued to stare into the cup in a somewhat wistful manner after saying that the cup had a pretty colour and was lovely.

'She may be into tableware… or maybe she is reminded of something…' Yakunan thought.

She glanced over at Honey, her own inner conflict being brought to the front of her mind. The small third year looked like he was bursting to say something, his stuffed toy, Usa-chan, clutched in his hands as usual. Mori stood behind him, as silent as ever.

Meanwhile, Haruhi did not notice Kanako's wistful manner and instead the comment she had made about the tea cup. "You must really be into tableware, huh?" she asked bluntly.

Almost immediately, Kanako's relaxed posture stiffened, and she began to stutter suspiciously. "Not really- I mean no- of course- I'm not…! Whatever would give you that idea?"

Suddenly, the scene was interrupted by the opening of the door, and they all looked up to see a young man with mouse brown hair and a sweater on. He was carrying a box, and his expression and aura struck Yakunan as average. "Hello? I'm here with the new tea cups you ordered."

Kanako's complexion paled and she went back to staring at the tea cup, while Honey looked like he was bursting to say something even more just then. Wishing that she could be at her apartment now instead of at the Host Club, Yakunan perched on a nearby window, not in the mood for being near any drama. She would just watch it from a distance as if it were a stage play.

Kyoya turned to the student with an icily polite smile on. "Ah, thank you very much. Every item that you've chosen for us has been extremely popular with the ladies. I'm quite impressed."

"Well, that's good to hear." The young man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Haruhi looked at him in curiosity. "So, do you sell tea sets?"

"No, I'm just a regular student. Can't you tell by the uniform?" the boy asked in a confused tone. Yakunan raised an eyebrow. It seemed to her that Haruhi was, in some ways, more oblivious than Mai.

Mai was intelligent and observant of some things, however she was oblivious to any romantic intentions if they weren't dead obvious. The girl did like Naru, but she didn't think Naru liked her back. 'And where does that thought come from?' she asked herself in a rhetorical manner. She knew the answer without even thinking it. It was Naru's fault. Mai had told her and John the words that Naru had told her; 'Me or Gene?'

So, Naru did have his moments of stupidity.

Kanako laughed in an almost scornful manner, messing up Yakunan's trail of thoughts. "Oh Haruhi, you're so funny. I can't blame you for not knowing. After all, he doesn't really look like an heir to a first-class company." The light brown haired boy looked slightly cowed, his mouth tipping down at the corners and his eyes pinned on the floor.

"First-class company?" Haruhi questioned, looking between the young man and the tea set.

"His family's business, the Suzushima trading company, deals primarily in the importing of tableware. They currently have the top market share in the country." Kyoya explained conveniently, checking his black note book.

"Wow!" Haruhi smiled, impressed.

"So whenever something exceptional comes in, we've asked him to send it our way. He has a great eye for fine china. Don't you, Suzushima?" Kyoya pulled the hurt boy back into the conversation.

He smiled lopsidedly. "You think? I've still got a lot to learn, but thank you."

"Aren't you leaving next month to study abroad in England?" the glasses-wearing second year questioned. Yakunan noticed as Kanako shrunk into her seat with an expression of heart break.

The response Kyoya received was hurried. The boy had expression of slight hurt on his face. "Yes, I am. Well, I better go now."

While Haruhi commented on how Kanako and the boy seemed close, Yakunan thought back to their expressions of pain. They were pushing each other away, whether either of them realised it or not. Yakunan watched as Kanako fled the room.

"Haru-chan! Guess what? They do know each other." Honey told her, his expression of wanting to say something disappearing. "Suzushima is Kasuga-chan's fiance."

"Kyoya, how long have you known about this?" Tamaki turned to his fellow second year as soon as that information hit him and was absorbed, processed and understood, which took a few noticeable seconds. Raising an eyebrow, Yakunan continued to listen to the conversation, not bothering to take an active part in it.

"About the two of them being engaged? Well, as you know, I conduct general researches on all of our customers. The two of them were childhood friends. It seems their engagement was arranged by their parents." He shrugged. "I didn't think the information would benefit us. So I disregarded it."

An expression of slight amusement covered Yakunan's face, a slight smirk fitted on.

"I see." Tamaki nodded slowly, sounding rather annoyed at what Kyoya had just said.

Kyoya went on with dispensing personal information, "Toru Suzushima. Outstanding grades, fair social status. He's ordinary looking, but he's reliable. If I had to fault him for anything…"

Hikaru broke in, "He doesn't have much presence."

"And he's faint-hearted." Kaoru added.

"So, in other words, he's boring." Kyoya finished the analysis bluntly. Yakunan took in the scene with a blank expression, but inwardly, she was deadpanning.

Haruhi's thoughts had also crashed, one thing in her mind at that moment. 'I had no idea they were so merciless to other guys.'

"Suzushima is a good boy, right?" Honey asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah." Mori nodded.

"All right, everyone. We'll have to work on our strategy." Tamaki shouted.

"Which one?" the other members of the Host Club asked. Yakunan just sat where she was, wondering what amusing or stupid answer Tamaki would come up with.

"Men, it is our responsibility as members of the elite Ouran host club to make every girl happy." Tamaki stated in his vibrant and dramatic way.

'Every girl?' Yakunan questioned in her head. 'I know a few they wouldn't be able to help without being punched…'

The thought of the members of the Host Club minus Haruhi, Honey and Mori being punched seemed likely, since Mai always got angry about being insulted or having someone she really liked insulted unjustly. The image of Tamaki being punched amused her a lot.

The thought of the twins and Kyoya being punched encouraged a smirk.

However the sweet Honey didn't seem like he would get hurt, nor the tall Mori, or Haruhi. She, unlike most of the hosts, had a sense of politeness and propriety and did not invade other's metaphorical and/or literal personal space.

She shook those thoughts out of her head and focused on what was currently going on. Tamaki was drawing up a plan on the whiteboard and the others were all clustered around it.

Making her way over to them, she read what they had written so far. Their plan was to dress Haruhi up, have her talk to Toru Suzushima, get Tamaki to talk with Kanako Kazugazaki, then have them do the last dance of the night together. Yakunan shrugged, noticing that she did not have much involvement in the plan, which was good. There were other things she needed to do that night over the phone.

As she walked out the room, however, the nineteen-year-old was dragged back in by her collar and dumped right in front of the whiteboard. She raised an eyebrow as they scrutinized her.

After getting bored, Yakunan's eyebrow raised slightly more. "I know I look good," this caused the twins and Tamaki to go white. "But staring is rude."

Yet another time, Yakunan felt the gloomy aura radiating from the corner, but she ignored it. Kyoya sighed in annoyance and adjusted his glasses. Then, he said in his usual tone of pleasant and distant politeness, "The President insisted that we let you co-host the party with him because he wants you to 'come out of your shell more'."

The third year's lips tilted down to one side at the sentence, her expression souring rapidly. "No," she shot the idea down. Suddenly, all of the people present in the room stiffened. The urge to look at the corner was very, very obvious. First the twins and Honey looked over, then Haruhi… Mori came next, and Kyoya…

All fell to the puppy dog eyes that Tamaki was sending them, but Yakunan merely shrugged, not sparing a glance. She did not care much for whatever Tamaki was doing. Turning to the whiteboard, she rubbed out the stickman drawing of her next to the currently-sulking blonde and redrew herself (as a stickman) next to Mori.

Immediately afterwards, Yakunan walked out of the room with a curt 'good afternoon', and it was very clear to all present that she had no wish to be involved in too many plans. The planning session continued with the main input being from Kyoya and the twins until Haruhi said something, which caused Tamaki to spring up from the corner, coming back to his normal self. If his personality could be called 'normal'.

It was painfully obvious to all the hosts except Yakunan that Tamaki wanted to earn her full trust. Haruhi also saw this, but she wondered about it, thinking over her stiffness and judging that it would take a while for any member of the Host Club to become more than a slightly friendly acquaintance. With the end of that thought, her mind trailed off…

Was that all they were to Yakunan?

* * *

 **Beigedecore: … *still shocked***

 **Mai: Um… Well, I guess I should say vote and follow…**

 ***crickets***


	9. The First Minor Shenanigan - Part 6

**Beigedecore: And I finally have another update for you~! Ahh… *drinks peach flavoured iced tea***

 **Naru: Stop lazing around and begin writing your next chapter.**

 **Beigedecore: I just finished, though! :|**

 **Naru: *sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose* Beigedecore does not own Ouran High School Host Club or Ghost Hunt.**

 **Beigedecore: AGAAAINN!?**

* * *

Lecture

As soon as Yakunan set foot outside of the room, she glanced around in case of girls, and seeing that there were none, didn't bother with wearing a mildly pleasant look. Doing that for as long as she had been forced to made her face sore, and the long haired brunette preferred to avoid socialising as much as possible.

Making her way to the main courtyard, she sat at the bench and began her planning, writing a few notes down. Sometime later, the clock tower struck, echoing coolly through the pink and white courtyard. A flock of white birds, perhaps doves, burst out of a nearby tree and fluttered up into the air. Looking up, Yakunan noticed the time and began to casually pack away her papers and pens, then stood up from the bench.

With one last subtle glance around, she fast-walked out of the courtyard, already beginning calculations in her head on if she could take the time to walk or if she should take the bus.

With one last subtle glance around, she fast walked out of the courtyard, her footsteps bouncing off the walls and onto others loudly. The sound engineering of the place was terrible, which was quite peculiar for such a high-ranking private school. As she made her way through the maze-like, pink hallways of the school towards one of the side gates, she began calculations in her head about if she could take her time to walk or if she should catch a bus to her university.

She hastily finished her decision-making when she walked out the gate, and hurried towards the bus stop. She had concluded that at that time of day (factoring in how crowded the walkways would be and how many alleys she would usually duck through on a detour to get some quiet), walking was not the quickest option.

When a bus pulled up at the stop, huffing loudly like an old man, Yakunan checked the number, then hopped on, paying the amount of money she should. Seating herself at the back where the air-conditioning was more noticeable, she checked the time. A quarter past six.

Nodding very slightly to herself in relief, Yakunan relaxed, knowing there was more than enough time to get to her lecture. She rested her head on the tinted window for some time, listening to the gentle hum of the engine and letting her eyes linger on things that stood out in the streets they passed.

Blurs of colours whizzed by; colourful pinks and yellows, neon blues and greens, all on lit signs, or fixed to the edge of buildings, advertising fish and chip shops, law offices, restaurants from other countries (on occasion) and the occasional shopping mall as they crossed into a different suburb. People were rushing around, and strolling lazily, all doing their own errands. Some wore tailcoats, trench coats, long-sleeved shirts, and jeans, skirts or tracksuits, many had brown or green eyes, and a couple of foreigners who she spotted had blue eyes as well.

The bus stopped abruptly, and before she could get a head injury from hitting the seat in front, she straightened up. As soon as the bus braked completely, she got up from her seat and walked down the aisle, then strode off the bus in a composed manner.

She entered through the front gates as students walked in or out, chattering loudly, listening to music, reading while walking, staring away in thought or sprinting with books and pens in hand, obviously running late for a lecture. Recalling the text she had received from the Dean, she walked briskly through the hallways of the university. Some cleared a pathway for her, while others called a greeting. Despite some things, she was very popular; probably because of how much a few groups of girls fangirled. Yakunan nodded to the greetings, allowing her host habits to slip through and plastering a pleasant look on her face.

When she finally got to the allocated lecture room, it was packed with around fifty students. Yakunan took a seat on one of the deep green, felt covered chairs at the front. As she waited for the lecturer, a couple more students filed in and took their seats, chattering amongst each other (mainly about how relieved they were that the lecturer was late).

The door opened again after a few minutes, and a man stepped in, holding several coloured folders and a pencil case. He was middle-aged, with greying hair (which would have been light brown in his prime) and wise, grey eyes. There were many lines on his face, some from laughter, and others from stress and a kind of cynical sadness in his whole expression and pose. The classroom silenced immediately. Yakunan observed silently that the man seemed to demand respect without even saying anything.

Dumping his folders and pencil case loudly on the lecture stand, he ran a hand through his hair briefly and looked over all the students with something akin to amusement. Yakunan recognised him from somewhere, but she couldn't say exactly, and therefore continued staring. He nodded with a tight smile. Again, a twinge jolted through her, and the annoying feeling that she knew him intensified.

"Today, your lecturer is away, therefore I volunteered myself to do this. If you have any questions, raise your hand and call me Doctor Davis," he instructed.

A young man next to her stuck his hand into the air.

"Yes?" Doctor Davis nodded to him.

"Are you Doctor Martin Davis?"

"Yes, I am. You heard of any others in parapsychology?" he switched to a dry tone, sounding somewhat like his son. Yakunan gave a secret smirk, wondering what it would be like to have her boss in here.

The boy next to her blushed and shook his head quickly in embarrassment, saying "No, sir, sorry…"

Her smirk widened. The Davis' were more alike than she initially thought. "And what do you find so amusing?" Martin Davis shot a vaguely annoyed look at her, and yet again, she found cause for amusement.

"It can wait until afterwards; this lecture is not a social gathering," she shot back.

While the older Davis regarded her with amusement, the other students in the room stared at her in shock. Some just shook their heads, used to the nineteen-year-old's manners, which worked in only one way: 'my respect comes when you earn it'. It seemed she wouldn't even spare the professor from that.

As the lecture progressed, the students quickly discovered how sharp the Professor's wit was, and that he operated in much the same way as Yakunan. One had to earn his respect before he gave it. By the end of the lecture, everyone had notes that extended over eleven or twelve pages, all frantically scrawled.

Yakunan had considerably less, as she had gathered a lot from previous cases, like when the SPR had faced up against a kodoku curse. As she remembered the case they had done, a feeling that she never wanted to do that again pushed at the back of her head. It certainly was not the most pleasant of things she had been through.

As everyone else left, she walked up to Doctor Martin Davis, waiting for the crowd of students around him to thin. The Doctor finally looked up as one other student left the room, and from the look in his eyes, Yakunan knew that while he was willing to converse, she would have to initiate the conversation.

"I am Himakocha Yakunan, and I have formed an… acquaintance with you son, Oliver Davis. I found the two of you similar to an extent," she explained herself, switching to slightly accented English.

Martin raised an eyebrow, also changing to English. He didn't seem surprised. "What kind of acquaintance?"

She shifted her foot at this, the only sign of how uncomfortable she suddenly felt. Considering it left her unsure, as did a lot of things concerning her former and future employer. "Perhaps a friendship, but time has lessened that, as well as a few matters in concern to a common friend."

"Is this friend called Mai Taniyama?" he questioned, most unexpectedly for Yakunan.

"You know of her?"

"I've heard a lot from Madoka, who kept my wife and I updated on a few things my son did. Apparently they had a special relationship that seems to have deteriorated because of something my son did."

Yakunan gave him a slightly dubious look, which was actually aimed at Naru (who would not be there to see it). Her green eyes darkened slightly, anger causing them to appear as though they were glinting. "You could say that."

Martin looked disappointed for a moment. "I would have thought you would say more about it; you look angry."

Swallowing to pull back any words that would seem unlike her, Yakunan nodded. "I am somewhat… frustrated." She paused. Her protectiveness for Mai caused to be so very angered whenever anyone harmed her, and thinking of how Mai had been harmed by Naru before he left Japan infuriated her more than actually seeing him. Yakunan tried to respond politely, seeing as the man's knowledge and thoroughness rivalled and (dare she think it) surpassed Naru's. The man also seemed to have something about him, as though he would see through any lie you might tell, so she didn't try to cover too much up. "He is very oblivious to attachments, whether they are friendships or more. Though, I cannot say anything further, otherwise I would be more of a hypocrite."

Chuckling, Martin went to the door, his annoyed and strict mood from earlier having fully dissipated. Obviously, his cynical moods lasted for less time than Naru's. He switched back to Japanese. "Well, I hope you and Taniyama-san go back and continue to be employed to my son. I heard his acquaintance with her changed him a little, which is a good thing."

Saying nothing, Yakunan put her notes away in her school bag and walked next to him. This time, however, the Doctor started conversation. "So, why are you wearing a school uniform?"

Not liking that direction of conversation, she shot a question back. "Why are you in Japan?"

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours."

Scowling, Yakunan responded reluctantly, "The Dean enrolled me in third year for an assignment."

"Interesting. Well, I came to Japan with my wife to visit Noll. I ask you not to inform him, though." Martin smirked wryly.

She nodded, and they fell into silence again. Yakunan ignored any awkwardness in the air and glanced around the corridor. The high walls were a cold white colour, the ceiling lined with black painted, wooden carvings, with fluorescent white lights hanging from the ceiling. The windows of tinted glass had been shut by a cleaner who had walked through, and a yellow folding sign was positioned on the side of the corridor to alert anyone who passed that the floor was slippery. Their footsteps echoed loudly through the empty University, lending the place an unsettling feeling. 'Perhaps,' thought Yakunan, 'this is why people dislike taking night classes and cleaners always have stress lines on their brows when they have to work into the evening…'

When they came out into the reception, they checked out, and then strolled out into the cool, night air. "I have to return to my apartment now. Good night, Doctor Davis." Yakunan gave a short bow.

Nodding back, he said, "Yes, and call me Martin."

"Of course, Martin-san. Then… call me Yakunan."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Okay, by the way…"

She grunted a response.

"Are you a man or a woman?"

Giving a sly smirk and deciding her own mood was good enough to play around a little, she responded, "I'll leave that for you to decide, Martin-san."

And with that, Yakunan turned down the street, her mood lightened somewhat, possibly due to the fact that Naru would not be expecting a visit from his parents and the entertainment this would consequently provide her with.

As she walked down the footpath, Martin stared at her retreating figure with a raised eyebrow. 'What a peculiar person. I wonder that Madoka did not tell me what gender Yakunan is…'

* * *

When Yakunan returned to her apartment, the sound of clattering and hissing already came from the kitchen. The air was a little warm, and the mouth-watering scent of curry with Mao's special recipe wafted up her nose.

She made her way to her bed room quietly and plonked her back pack on her desk. Quickly removing things from the bag and putting them away, she set out the lecture notes and her homework, writing up the due dates on her wall calendar.

Yakunan opened her door again and strolled down the carpeted hall easily, her features relaxed, instead of her usual appearance - furrowed eyebrows, stiffened shoulders and a small frown - from when she returned. As Mai bustled around in the kitchen, cutting up a potato, then going back to check on the curry sauce and the rice, she didn't notice her roommate walking through the doorway and watching her making the food. Despite her business, though, she couldn't help but ponder on her third day of employment.

 _\- Flashback -_

 _Mai barrelled through the door, late as usual, hurriedly removing her dark navy coat and patting herself down a couple of times. There was a click and a slight squeak as a door opened, and she darted around to see Naru leaning against the door frame of his office, a slight frown on his face and an annoyed look aimed at her._

 _Quickly gathering her wits about her and desperately trying to ignore how good he looked standing there, his dark blue eyes glinting in the light from the window, black hair slightly ruffled and his arms crossed in such a way that seemed normal and yet not… Mai tore her mind away from that once again, ran over to him and bowed clumsily. "Sorry I'm late!" she rushed nervously._

 _There was a brief, awkward silence, and then… "You're late. Tea."_

 _The door slammed closed._

 _Man stared dumbly at it, her mouth gaping open. Quickly, it turned to anger, her colour heightened, her eyes flashed and her fist raised, shaking rapidly. She stomped over to the small kitchen, taking teacups out loudly, and grabbing a tray from a cupboard._

 _While the water was boiling, Mai scooped some Earl Grey tea leaves into the teapot, then padded over to Lin's door. She knocked as composedly as she could, waiting for the door to swing open. A few seconds later, it did._

 _"_ _Yes, Mai-san?" Lin stood there, unconsciously towering over her with his usual closed expression._

 _"_ _Would you like any tea, Lin-san?"_

 _After considering for a moment, Lin nodded, saying "Yes, please."_

 _Nodding, Mai smiled at him, trying not to raise her fist and bang on the wall, shouting 'See, those are good manners, Naru!' Instead, she jogged back to the kitchen and picked up the kettle, pouring the boiling water into the teapot. After steeping it for a few minutes, she poured some into each cup, remembering how Lin preferred his with no sugar and only some milk, and Naru liked his with two teaspoons of sugar and half milk._

 _First, she took some to Lin, placing it on the desk with slightly shaking hands. The twenty-nine-year-old turned to Mai briefly to give her a thank you, unknowingly making Mai's urge to hit the wall and shout 'See, Naru? Manners!' greater._

 _Then, she left Lin's mostly bare office as quietly as she could and opened the door to Naru's. The office was different to how it used to be. Now, the desk was set up diagonally in the far left corner, a couple of files on it, as well as Naru's black book (which Mai thought he might keep under his pillow when he slept or something similar), a laptop and a few pens and highlighters. A filing cabinet sat on the right nearest the door, the draws labelled neatly, and Mai could imagine the files of all the SPR cases carefully arranged in there, along with the names she had given them, like 'The Bloodstained Labyrinth' and 'The Cursed House'. Anyone who broke in was sure to have a good read if they peeked in there. A dark wood and glass coffee table lay just off the centre of the room with nothing on it, and a black armed chair sat on each side of it._

 _Making her way across the grey-carpeted room, she took the teacup off the tray - painted with a grey swan in a pond in a rainy English countryside - and thunked it down on his desk. Mai proceeded to stare holes into her boss' forehead, until, a few minutes later, he looked up. They stared at each other for a few moments._

 _Naru, knowing what Mai wanted, smirked in amusement. She was not to get what she wanted today. "I know I look handsome, but it's rude to stare."_

 _Mai almost dropped her tray in her embarrassment, but this quickly trailed off into annoyance. Her face burned bright red, and she shouted 'You jerk!' before stomping out of the office and slamming the door. For a while, she fumed, then a smile suddenly broke out onto her face, suddenly remembering that Naru did look good smirking like that… she sent an annoyed look at the door, then headed back into the kitchen to pour herself some tea as well._

 _As soon as she was seated at her desk, she dove into her paperwork. She paused in the middle of writing a few notes. 'Come to think of it, where does all this paperwork come from?' Heaving a sigh of resignation, she stared at the paper and got back to work._

 _Mai was mentally exhausted at the end of the afternoon. 'Where does he get all this paperwork from!? And how come I have more of it than he does!?' she complained, not out loud of course, because Naru would probably come out and give her a sarcastic comment at just the wrong time._

 _"_ _-ai. Mai!"_

 _Her head shot up, and she saw Naru standing in front of her desk. "Huh? What is it?" She felt relieved just then that she had not complained out loud._

 _"_ _I don't pay you to sit around and do nothing. Tea."_

 _Mai mumbled an annoyed comment under her breath and ignored the irritated stare she felt as she got him yet another cup of tea, offering Lin one as well. He had refused politely with an amused look that Mai did not understand, and then turned back to his laptop._

 _Checking the time after giving Naru his tea, she grinned. "Yokatta (phew)! I can get home now!"_

 _So, she put away her pen and the files she was working on, grabbed her jacket of its hook eagerly and rushed out of the office before Naru could stop her for more tea._

 _\- End of flashback -_

Before she could think on it anymore, a voice started from behind her, "Curry? Hm…"

Mai felt as though she had jumped three metres into the air. "Agh!" she whipped around, only to see Yakunan. Sighing in annoyance, Mai clutched her shirt. "Oh, Yakunan-chan, you scared me…"

"Then don't get lost in thought."

"Hey! I'm allowed to get lost in thought after a long day!"

"The curry is going to burn."

"Grr…"

* * *

 **Beigedecore: Well, I finished my iced tea now~!**

 **Mai: Oh, hello, Yakunan!**

 **Beigedecore: Hey, Mai~!**

 **Mai: Oh, I'm just dropping in to make sure you remember to tell the readers to vote, follow, read and review. You did do that, right?**

 **Beigedecore: *turns white and fades away in a non-existent breeze* This agony…**


End file.
